Want to See More of Japan? Japan Airlines Is Offering Free Tickets This Summer

The 2020 Olympics will begin in Tokyo this July, but in a bid to encourage international travelers to see more of Japan, Japan Airlines (JAL) is giving away 50,000 domestic tickets. Entrants need to be registered with the airline’s frequent flier program and ready to fly between July and September.

In July, the world will be focused on Tokyo as the 2020 Olympics begin, but as CNN Travel reports, Japan Airlines (JAL) is running a contest that it hopes will encourage visitors to seek out some of the lesser-seen parts of the Asian nation.

Encouraging Olympic Visitors to See More of Japan

The contest is aimed solely at international visitors to the country and is part of the wider Your Japan 2020 Campaign, a drive that is soon-to-be-launched by both the Japan Tourism Agency and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

As the outlet reports, the Japanese government expects that the games could see as many as 10 million extra international visitors to the country this summer. In the five years between 2013 and 2018, it explains that yearly foreign visitor arrivals have trebled, with over 31 million people entering Japan and around 10 million visiting the nation’s capital.

The Fine Details

The contest will see JAL give away 50,000 complimentary round-trip domestic tickets, but as the outlet explains, in order to win the contest, all entrants, “…must be registered outside of Japan with the flag carrier’s Mileage Bank frequent flier program.”

Or, as JAL explained in a statement, “Win a Trip with JAL will invite international visitors to trips aboard JAL domestic flights to regional destinations in Japan. JAL will recommend each traveler four destinations from which the traveler can select one. The campaign Win a Trip with JAL, which will begin in late February, will offer up to 100,000 seats free of charge for travel between July and September 2020. Details of this campaign will be disclosed soon in mid-January.”

Additionally, residents or citizens of Japan are not able to enter this contest.

The other catch, as the outlet explains, is that travelers won’t know their final destinations until after they apply to the contest. For those lucky winners, the window to travel will be set between July and September 2020.

For those hoping to go en masse, CNN Travel adds, “Family and friends traveling together can apply as a group of up to four people, and applicants will receive the result within three days of applying.”

Where Can Winners Go?

Tickets can be used on four local destinations, with travel eligible to begin from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) or Osaka’s Kansai (KIX) or Itami (ITM) airports.

More details on the contest will be released this month, with applications opening to the general public in February.