According to figures derived from a Nikkei survey of 19 key hotels in Tokyo and 18 in Osaka reveal that occupancy rates at major hotels in the Tokyo area climbed to 82.7% in October, up 3.2 points on the year and the fourth straight month of year-over-year increases.
This increase is attributed to an influx of Chinese tourists to the area, and in the number of business travelers from Europe and the U.S., the latter travel segment that bounced back since declining in the wake of last fall’s financial crisis. On their part, the Hilton Tokyo which had experienced 30-35% fewer foreign business customers than in 2007, reportedly rebounded to being down just 10-15% in October. The Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku on its part recorded an occupancy rate of 91.9% in October, a 0.8-point increase from the same month a year earlier.
The Tokyo Prince Hotel saw its occupancy rate climb 3.2 points to 85.5% attributed to a strong inflow of Chinese tourists, many in groups of four to eight. Increases in business clients have mostly been customers from pharmaceutical companies from the United States of America. Compared to Tokyo, occupancy rates in the Osaka area slipped 2.4 points year-over-year to 80.7% after improving in September for the first time in 14 months.
