Worker shortage creates tension with foreigners rushing in Japan
Friday, July 21, 2023
To Japan, the return of foreign crowds coupled with a constant shortage of the hotel and transportation personnel are developing different problems for a progressively overwhelmed tourism.
On July 19 th , the Japan National Tourism Organization said that for the first time international tourists in June topped 2 million since January 2020, when pandemic began spreading worldwide.
When demand increases, prices increases as well. International tourists are rushing to hotels designed particularly for them, like in Tokyo’s Asakusa district – Mimaru Suites. In December, this hotel was launched with a design like a traditional Japanese home.
For the Cosmos Hotel Management Co., it’s one of 26 facilities that the hotel handles around Japan. Around 90 percent of the guests of the company were from abroad in April 2023.
During pandemic, only 15 percent of the rooms of the hotel company were occupied, compelling the company to cut room rates to as low as 15,000 yen.
However at present with almost 70 percent of the rooms being occupied, the average rate has increased to almost 32,000 yen.
The official of the company said that as the consumer prices are increasing world over and due to yen’s weak presence, foreigners almost certainly don’t think the prices are too high.