Occupancy rates at major hotels in the Tokyo area climbed to 82.7 per cent in October, up 3.2 points on the year and the fourth straight month of year-over-year increases. In addition to an influx of Chinese tourists to the area, the number of business travelers from Europe and the U.S. has bounced back since declining in the wake of last fall’s financial crisis. The Hilton Tokyo had been seeing 30-35 per cent fewer foreign business customers than in 2007, but reportedly rebounded to being down just 10-15 per cent in October…
Occupancy rates at major hotels in the Tokyo area climbed to 82.7 per cent in October, up 3.2 points on the year and the fourth straight month of year-over-year increases.
In addition to an influx of Chinese tourists to the area, the number of business travelers from Europe and the U.S. has bounced back since declining in the wake of last fall’s financial crisis. The Hilton Tokyo had been seeing 30-35 per cent fewer foreign business customers than in 2007, but reportedly rebounded to being down just 10-15 per cent in October.
The Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku had an occupancy rate of 91.9 per cent in October, a 0.8-point increase from the same month a year earlier. Hotel officials note that business patrons have returned, particularly customers from U.S. pharmaceutical companies. The Tokyo Prince Hotel saw its occupancy rate climb 3.2 points to 85.5 per cent thanks to a strong inflow of Chinese tourists, many in groups of four to eight.
On the other hand, occupancy rates in the Osaka area slipped 2.4 points year-over-year to 80.7 per cent after improving in September for the first time in 14 months.
The figures were derived from a Nikkei survey of 19 key hotels in Tokyo and 18 in Osaka.
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