Simplified visa requirements, strong regional economies, a weak yen and the 2020 Olympics bode well for Japan’s hotel industry, Michael Taylor writes
According to the Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA), Japan had a particularly strong year in 2015 in terms of foreign arrivals, growing by more than 47 percent year-on-year. While setting a new record high for foreign visitors at more than 19.7 million, that figure is expected to more than double to 40 million by 2020, when Japan hosts the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Several factors have fuelled the growth. Visa requirements from many countries have been simplified, which appears to have had a very positive effect on inbound tourism. The majority of Japan’s source markets grew at double-digit rates in 2015 with only a few exceptions. Arrivals from Russia, for example, dropped 15 per cent. Several hotel brands are launching their first properties in the country. JW Marriott, for example, has announced plans to debut a property in the historic city of Nara in 2020. It will be the first foreign luxury hotel in the prefecture, which plays host to two UNESCO world heritage sites and world famous Nara Park. Marriott International already operates 15 hotels in Japan across five other brands: The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott Hotels, Renaissance, Courtyard, and Autograph Collection Hotels. More Marriott properties are on the way. The Mori Trust Group owns and operates the Laforet Hotels & Resorts hotel chain, which currently has 32 properties with 7,200 rooms spread across the country. Under an agreement signed between Mori and Marriott in March, five of Mori’s Laforet properties will be renovated and re-branded as Marriott Hotels, adding 840 rooms to Marriott’s Japanese portfolio. The two companies previously opened the Tokyo Marriott Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Tokyo Station Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott Shin-Osaka Station Hotel. Mori Trust is also going to build the aforementioned 150-room JW Marriott Hotel Nara. “We are delighted to see our strategic collaboration with Marriott International grow even stronger with this new partnership,” says Miwako Date, executive managing director of Mori Trust Group and president and CEO of Mori Trust Hotels & Resorts. “We hope to add value to each destination by merging the essence of Marriott Hotels with the regions’ natural resources, culture and history, to better showcase them to both domestic and global travel markets.”
Northern Japan
The Ibis Styles Sapporo in the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido is one of 11 Accor Hotels spread across eight Japanese cities. The 278-room hotel was re-branded as an Ibis Styles in January 2015. The three-star hotel’s most important markets are Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. The easing of visa requirements for China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is having a positive impact on business, a spokesman for Accor says. “There has been a shift in line with inbound market growth from both group and FIT segments,” says Dean Daniels, area GM Accor Hotels Sapporo. “The growth can be attributed to easing of visa requirements, lower yen and increasing visitation out of China driving market demand. Business grew year on year based on demand and the re- branding of the hotel. Performance over the first quarter has been strong compared to 2015.” Situated in the heart of Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district, the 208-room Mercure Tokyo Ginza, another Accor property, opened in October 2004. The number of foreign guests staying at the hotel increased by 7.5 per cent in 2015, which was the hotel’s best year ever. “If we continue to have a good revenue management, pay attention to the market trend and keep moderately competitive rates, not lowering the rates when the demand is high in the market, it is possible to have a sustainable growth,” says Matthieu Firmin, area GM, Mercure Tokyo Ginza/ibis Tokyo Shinjuku, Accorhotels. “The impact of the weak yen has been positive for inbound business; we have observed that now we have more and more last minute reservations.” The Preferred Hotels & Resorts group entered the Japanese market more than 22 years ago. Its first member hotel was the Royal Park Hotel in Tokyo. The group now has 13 properties across the country, says Kaori Yamaguchi, managing director and director of global sales in Japan. With 241 rooms, the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama was established in 1927. Although its major source markets have traditionally been the US and Europe, the property has been working on attracting more Asia-Pacific travellers as this market segment has been growing very quickly over the last few years. “Due to the booming traffic from Asian countries to Japan, the year of 2015 was a very successful one for us – this is reflected in the record number of visitors to Japan (19.7 million) which was up about 47 per cent from the previous year,” Kazutsugu Yoshida, general manager, Hotel New Grand, says. “We hope this trend will continue on the upward trajectory.” Looking to the future, the current economic situation in mainland China and the devaluation of the Japanese yen are cause for concern “The easing of visa requirements is a most welcome change for the hotel industry in Japan, especially with the upcoming Tokyo Olympic games and Paralympics in 2020,” Yoshida says. Japan is looking increasingly attractive to hotel groups (Hotel New Grand) Ma re ar r k ke e t e p p o or r t t Land of the faLLing The two companies previously opened the Tokyo Marriott Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Tokyo Station Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott Shin-Osaka Station Hotel. Mori Trust is also going to build the aforementioned 150-room JW Marriott Hotel Nara. Yen “We are delighted to see our strategic collaboration with Marriott International grow even stronger with this new partnership,” says Miwako Date, executive managing director of Mori Trust Group and president and CEO of Mori Trust Hotels & Resorts. “We hope to add value to each destination by merging the essence of Marriott Hotels with the regions’ natural resources, culture and history, to better showcase them to both domestic and global travel markets.” Northern Japan The Ibis Styles Sapporo in the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido is one of 11 Accor Hotels spread across eight Japanese cities. The 278-room hotel was re-branded as an Ibis Styles in January 2015. The three-star hotel’s most important markets are Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. The easing of visa requirements for China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is having a positive impact on business, a spokesman for Accor says. “There has been a shift in line with inbound market growth from both group and FIT segments,” says Dean Daniels, area GM Accor Hotels Sapporo. “The growth can be attributed to easing of visa requirements, lower yen and increasing visitation out of China driving market demand. Business grew year on year based on demand and the re- branding of the hotel. Performance over the first quarter has been strong compared to 2015.” Preferred Hotels & Resorts group’s Kaori Yamaguchi, MD and director of global sales in Japan Noborioji Hotel Nara is a small independent hotel with predominantly domestic market guests Simplified visa requirements, strong regional economies, a weak yen and the 2020 Olympics bode well for Japan’s hotel industry, (PATA), Japan had a particularly strong year in 2015 in terms of foreign arrivals, growing by more than 47 per cent year-on-year. Michael Taylor writes according to the Pacific Asia Tourism Association Foreign arrivals to Noborioji Hotel Nara increased 87 per cent in 2015 compared to 2014
Timely inclusion
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) has had a presence since Japan 1991. It currently has 10 member hotels spread across the country ranging from country houses like Unzen Kanko in Nagasaki and resorts such as L’hotel Du Lac in Nagahama to SLH’s first hotel in Tokyo, The Tokyo Station Hotel, which joined the group in 2015. SLH’s newest member, Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse, joined the group in March 2016. “It is a timely inclusion as travel to Hokkaido has been made more accessible with the recent extension of the bullet train service to this Northern part of Japan, which is perhaps best known for its world-class ski terrain,” says Victor Wong, area and development director, SLH. “The brand will be announcing more additions in Japan over the coming months.” Another member of the SLH group, Noborioji Hotel Nara is a small independent property with just 12 rooms. Its source market is predominantly domestic, with 20 per cent of guests coming from overseas “We foresee an increase in the number of overseas guests this year as we are conducting more overseas sales activities together SLH,” Yoichi Kawasaki, hotel group manager, Noborioji Hotel Nara. “Foreign arrivals increased 87 per cent in 2015 compared to 2014. The upward trend has not stopped.”
