Hotel and ryokan operators in Japan are expecting record revenues in fiscal 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025), buoyed by the almost full rebound of revenue in fiscal 2023 to pre-pandemic levels and the ongoing strong growth in inbound tourism.
Accommodation revenue for the year ending March 2024 totalled 4.9 trillion yen (US$31.3 billion), according to a survey by financial research firm Teikoku Databank, which found that the record high annual revenue of five trillion yen (reached in 2019) could have been reached if not for the damage caused to hotels and ryokans by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January.
Japan is expecting revenues for accommodation and ryokans to continue to soar this year
Overall, 52 per cent of accommodation surveyed said their revenue is set to increase this year, although there were regional disparities. Respondents in Hiroshima Prefecture were most optimistic, at 84 per cent.
Overnight stays in Japan totalled 600 million in 2023. Of that, international visitors accounted for 20 per cent, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a lodging and travel statistics survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
By prefecture, Tokyo saw the highest increase in domestic and international hotel guests in 2023 compared to 2019 (23 per cent), followed by Kochi (18 per cent), Tochigi (10 per cent), Osaka (four per cent) and Kyoto (four per cent), according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
The Teikoku Databank study predicts fiscal 2024 will generate at least five trillion yen in revenue for hotel and ryokan operators, although it noted that ongoing labour shortages pose a threat to income growth.
Hotel and ryokan operators in Japan are expecting record revenues in fiscal 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025), buoyed by the almost full rebound of revenue in fiscal 2023 to pre-pandemic levels and the ongoing strong growth in inbound tourism.
Accommodation revenue for the year ending March 2024 totalled 4.9 trillion yen (US$31.3 billion), according to a survey by financial research firm Teikoku Databank, which found that the record high annual revenue of five trillion yen (reached in 2019) could have been reached if not for the damage caused to hotels and ryokans by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January.
Overall, 52 per cent of accommodation surveyed said their revenue is set to increase this year, although there were regional disparities. Respondents in Hiroshima Prefecture were most optimistic, at 84 per cent.
Overnight stays in Japan totalled 600 million in 2023. Of that, international visitors accounted for 20 per cent, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a lodging and travel statistics survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
By prefecture, Tokyo saw the highest increase in domestic and international hotel guests in 2023 compared to 2019 (23 per cent), followed by Kochi (18 per cent), Tochigi (10 per cent), Osaka (four per cent) and Kyoto (four per cent), according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
The Teikoku Databank study predicts fiscal 2024 will generate at least five trillion yen in revenue for hotel and ryokan operators, although it noted that ongoing labour shortages pose a threat to income growth.