Dhaka: The Japanese government announced on December 2 that it is planning to resume its domestic travel discount programme in 2023.

Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito said the government will decide when exactly to relaunch the programme, which was initially expected to conclude on December 28, 2022, after monitoring Covid cases in the country.

Participants in the programme, a campaign the government hopes will resurrect a tourism industry battered by the pandemic, are required to have received at least three Covid vaccine doses or test negative for the virus.

The Japanese government relaunched the travel discount programme in October 2022 after pausing it during the heart of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, discounts offered in the programme will be reduced in 2023, with the discount rate to drop to 20 per cent from the current 40 per cent. The maximum discount amount available for travellers in tour packages, including public transportation services, will also decrease from USD 58 to USD 36.