Test Operation of Immigration Inspection Terminals at Haneda and Kansai Airports
"Immigration Procedures to Become More Convenient and Office Efficiency to Improve"
The Japanese government plans to streamline airport immigration procedures starting this year at Haneda Airport and Kansai Airport. Once the new system is implemented, it is expected to enhance visitor convenience and improve administrative efficiency.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on the 18th that terminals processing customs and immigration inspection information have been undergoing trial operation since the end of last month at Haneda Airport's Terminal 2.
Until now, entrants to Japan had to present their passport information twice: once at the immigration inspection area and again at the customs inspection area. This sometimes caused immigration procedures to take over an hour during busy times.
However, the new system allows travelers to input passport and baggage information in advance through the Japanese government website (Visit Japan Web) before arrival, and by scanning a pre-issued QR code at the terminal, the process is handled collectively. Nikkei stated, "With the new system, there will be no need to submit customs declaration forms or immigration cards, so the immigration procedure will be completed in one minute, thereby improving administrative efficiency."
Japan plans to continue trial operations of the terminals until March and, based on the results, will first apply the new system at Haneda Airport and Kansai Airport, where foreign arrivals are expected to increase due to the '2025 Osaka-Kansai World Expo.' Subsequently, the system will be gradually expanded to major airports. To support this, the Japan Tourism Agency has allocated 7.2 billion yen (approximately 66 billion KRW) in the 2024 budget.
Meanwhile, last year, the largest number of foreign visitors to Japan were overwhelmingly from Korea. A total of 6,958,500 Koreans visited Japan, representing a 24.6% increase compared to 2019, exceeding the combined number of visitors from Taiwan (4,202,400) and China (2,425,000), who ranked second and third respectively. Thanks to this, Japan surpassed the government’s annual tourism revenue target of 5 trillion yen for the first time in history last year.
Tourists going through departure procedures at Incheon International Airport ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to the travel platform Klook, Japan was also the most booked short-distance travel destination by Koreans during the recent Lunar New Year holiday (February 9?12). The industry expects demand for travel to Japan to continue for the time being after the holiday.
In particular, travelers who have visited Japan multiple times showed a higher intention to revisit. A survey by the travel and leisure platform Yanolja found that 75% of travelers who visited Japan two or more times last year responded that they plan to visit Japan again this year. Among them, the highest percentage (29.9%) planned to travel in March, followed by April (17.0%) and February (16.5%). Since Japan is a short-distance destination that is easy to choose, visits were concentrated in the near term without significant differences between peak and off-peak seasons.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
