Covid robbed Kyoto of foreign tourists – now it is not sure it wants them back

City that had 8 million overseas visitors in 2019 – including free-spending parties of Chinese people – is getting used to the peace and quiet.

Until a couple of years ago, negotiating the hill leading to one of Kyoto’s most popular temples would have tested the patience of a Buddhist saint. The arrival of yet another coachload of sightseers would send pedestrians fleeing to narrow paths already clogged with meandering visitors on their way to Kiyomizu-dera.

That was before Covid-19. Today, the cacophony of English and Chinese, and a smattering of other European and Asian languages, has been replaced by the chatter of Japanese children on school excursions. Shops selling souvenirs and wagashi sweets are almost empty, their unoccupied staff perhaps reminiscing about more lucrative times.

Two years into the pandemic, some of the ancient capital’s residents admit that they have learned to embrace life without foreign visitors, who were once welcomed for the money they ploughed into the local economy and resented for their cultural faux pas and, in some cases, staggering bad manners.

The global boom in Japanese pop culture and cuisine, a weaker yen and fading memories of the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima turned the country into a tourism success story. In 2019, a record 31 million people visited from overseas – an estimated 8 million of them including Kyoto in their itinerary.

Buoyed up by its successful bid to host the 2020 summer Olympics, the government set an ambitious target – to which it continues to cling – of 60 million overseas visitors by the end of this decade.

But after two years of the toughest borders restrictions in the world, Japan’s tourist boom feels as if it belongs to a different age.

By last year, the gains of the previous decade had been wiped out, first by the arrival of the coronavirus, then by new waves that forced the government to abandon plans for a gradual opening up to tourists and other people from overseas. Just 245,900 foreign visitors arrived in Japan in 2021, according to the tourism agency, a drop of 99.2% from pre-pandemic levels.

“It feels very different now,” said the owner of an ice-cream shop near Kiyomizu temple. “There used to be lots of foreign tourists, but now it’s almost empty.”

Despite the loss of revenue, Kyoto residents are divided over the eventual return of significant numbers of overseas visitors.

It wasn’t long ago that the city was at the centre of a backlash against “tourism pollution”. Signs were erected in the Gion district warning visitors against trespassing and – a common complaint – pestering passing geiko and maiko entertainers for selfies as they walked to their evening teahouse appointments.

Traffic clogged popular sightseeing spots, while locals struggled to find space on buses crammed with tourists and their luggage. Restaurateurs railed against tourists who made group reservations but failed to turn up.

For now, Kyoto’s tourist economy is dependent on domestic visitors, whose presence ebbs and flows in lockstep with measures to contain the latest wave of coronavirus infections.

Mari Samejima is among the local businesspeople who are eager for the return of the bakugai – explosive buying – unleashed by free-spending parties of Chinese tourists who descended on Kyoto before the pandemic.

“They spent a lot of money here,” said Samejima, who runs a gift shop. “I understand why some people are hesitant about a return to those days – and I have my own doubts – but I’d prefer to see foreign tourists again.”

The number of customers at Yoshinobu Yoshida’s shop, which sells Kyô sensu folding fans, has slumped by as much as 60% over the past two years. “I don’t know what we’ll do if it carries on like this,” said Yoshida, whose shop has stood on the same spot near Kiyomizu for a century. “If I’m honest, I can’t see it returning to normal for another few years.

With the Omicron surge yet to reach its peak, and Japan’s government showing little enthusiasm for lifting its travel ban, few expect foreign tourists to return to Kyoto soon. And when they do, the numbers are expected to be a fraction of those before the pandemic.

That may not be a bad thing, according to Tomoko Nagatsuka, who remembers hearing more Chinese than Japanese being spoken in her cafe, where weary tourists recharge with green tea and traditional sweets.

“Kyoto isn’t a particularly big city, so too many foreign tourists put pressure on things like public transport,” she said. “They were great for business, but it was difficult to live a normal life with so many of them milling around. Part of me really wants them back, but another part of me loves the peace and quiet.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/02/covid-robbed-kyoto-of-foreign-tourists

Historic hotel that hosted royal visitors sold

It is the ninth consecutive year that Britannia has come bottom of the pile in the annual survey by consumer group Which?

Britannia and Mercure have been ranked the UK’s worst hotel chains after being rated poorly for categories such as cleanliness, bathrooms and value for money.

It is the ninth consecutive year that Britannia has come bottom of the pile in the annual survey by consumer group.

The chain has 61 hotels across Britain, including Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel and Scarborough’s Grand Hotel. It received an average customer score of only 49%. More than half (51%) of Britannia guests surveyed said they ran into a problem during their stay, with cleanliness being the most common issue. The chain was rated one star out of five for bathrooms, and two stars for seven other categories such as cleanliness, customer service and value for money. One customer said: “It was terrible. The room was dirty. The bathroom was dirty. The carpet was terrible, stains everywhere.” Others complained about hotels being “run into the ground” and “in need of a drastic makeover”.

The average price paid of those surveyed for a one-night stay was £99. Mercure’s average customer score was only slightly better at 52%, with many guests observing that its standards have fallen. One consumer said the chain’s hotels are “not as smart as they used to be” and it has “some poor quality properties”. It was rated just two stars for cleanliness, rooms, bathrooms, communal areas and value for money.Mercure guests surveyed paid an average of £114 for one night.

Premier Inn, with an average price per night of £66, was the best performing large hotel chain with a customer score of 79%.It was topped by the best small chain, Hotel du Vin, which scored 80%. Its guests paid an average of £150 for one night.

The research features 24 large hotel chains and six small ones. A total of 2,371 members of the public and Which? members who stayed in a UK hotel in the 15 months to October 2021 were surveyed. This included 57 who had visited a Britannia hotel and 73 who had spent the night at a Mercure property.

Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Year after year, guests are let down by Britannia’s run-down hotels and often dirty rooms. “This year saw some slight improvements to the chain’s score – but not enough to drag it off the bottom of our rankings. “Until the company ups its game further we would urge guests to look elsewhere. “The impressive, budget-friendly Premier Inn is our pick of the large chains, and Hotel du Vin offers high quality stays in interesting locations.”

A spokesman for Mercure said: “We are surprised to see our position in this survey.“It does not reflect the high standard of guest experience which we strive for, and we will take action to address these comments. “The experience and wellbeing of our guests at each and every property is our highest priority.” It added that it was ranked “amongst the top mid-scale brands” in the latest annual hotel guest survey by research consultancy BDRC.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-01/worst-hotel-chains-in-the-uk-mercure-and-britannia

How Can Hotel Website Design Bring in More Bookings and Revenue?

Do you want to build a hotel website design that can help you increase direct bookings and revenue?

The design of your hotel’s website has a significant impact on travellers’ booking patterns, and it should be a primary concern for you.

Travellers want a website that reflects their demands and expectations; if the website does not engage them, it is unlikely that they will book a room at your hotel. Today, having a strong, appealing, and successfully integrated online footprint is the only way hotels can stay in business.

This article will help you understand the need for a hotel website design and how to make a hotel booking website.

Why Do You Need to Design and Build a Hotel Booking Website?

Building a website for your hotel or property is important since it expands your online reach, enables direct hotel booking reservations and increases hotel revenue. All of these factors are advantageous to your hotel.

However, merely being visible online and providing relevant information about your hotel or property is not enough.

Here comes designing!

Hotel booking design is critical for increasing SEO rankings and creating an impression on travellers.

To get more guests to make reservations through your hotel’s website, you should do the following:

• To make your hotel more discoverable, you need to rank highly on search engine result pages.
• You must visually impress and connect guests with your hotel website design.
• You should be able to provide and display important and relevant information to your potential customers in an easily accessible manner.
• You must make it convenient for travellers to book hotel rooms.
• You should use advertisements, discount deals, and cost-effective packages to entice potential guests.
• You must display excellent visual content that is highly engaging and relevant to your hotel and location.

Unless you build and design a good and appealing website for your hotel, it could be hard to implement all of these elements in a presentable and organised manner.

When you build and design your hotel’s website using a website builder tool, you won’t have to worry about the final output. The technology will cover and take care of everything. Technologically advanced website builders are developed with best practices in mind, making it as simple as possible to increase traffic and convert visitors.

How to Create a Hotel Booking Website?

Developing and designing a new website can be a daunting challenge for hoteliers. Before you get started, you should pause for a moment and review your requirements, resources, and design expertise.

When it comes to hotel website design, there are two primary alternatives:

• Investing in a website builder that is easy to use.
• Investing in a web developer to develop a customised design from the ground up.

Investing in a web developer can provide hoteliers with a stunning, custom design. However, it can also be difficult for operators who are unfamiliar with web design.

Hiring a developer to design a web page from scratch will take far more time and cost more money over time than using a website builder. Furthermore, future updates and modifications to the website could be challenging because the hired website developer must approve all changes.

Investing in a hotel website builder, on the other hand, will allow you to design a customised website that is tailored to your branding. This option can save you a lot of money because you do not have to pay every time you change a minor element of your website.

If you decide to go with this option, choose a website builder designed exclusively for hotels. It will have the functionalities you need to increase your hotel’s direct bookings and sales revenue.

However, if you already have a website for your hotel, you will need to figure out and recognise the necessary elements that are missing and then consider redesigning your website. A call to action such as a ‘Book Now’ button, a safe online payment system, or a handful of high-quality SEO features could all be lacking from your hotel’s website.

Tips for Hotel Website Redesign

Here are five basic tips for you to begin with your hotel’s website redesign:

1. Check the image quality on your website

Adding beautiful and aesthetic imagery to your hotel website design is an important element in creating an impression on visitors. Add pictures of your hotel’s most interesting and unusual places to captivate potential visitors. But make sure that the quality of those pictures is good.

You can begin by assessing the quality of the existing photos on your website. It will help you determine the necessary improvements needed to be made to appeal to potential guests.

2. Going through the information available for your guests on your hotel’s website

Another deciding factor for your potential guests to book rooms with you directly on your website is the information you have provided for them about your hotel and region.

The information and details that matter the most about your hotel are:

• Hotel rooms rates
• Hotel room availability
• Services
• Amenities
• Ancillaries
• Contact details
• Your location
• Proximity to attractions
• Things to do

Most of this information is vital but basic.

Are you wondering how to make your hotel stand out?

Taking a step further and providing a complete overview of what’s interesting in the nearby area might help your hotel stand out from competitors. It will take your hotel one step closer to having the best hotel booking site. Having extensive information about local attractions on your hotel’s website will help keep a potential visitor hooked for much longer.

3. Implement mobile-friendly responsive web design

Responsive design is a fundamental concept that you should implement unquestionably. It is a website design technique that aims to build a viewable and interactive interface that responds to the user’s preferred device.

It ensures that the user experience is seamless and that the website’s features can be seen and operated efficiently.

Note that your hotel website design for mobile hasn’t been developed responsively if visitors have to zoom in to click a button or link.

For the finest user experience, prioritise your users’ requirements, just as you would when they arrive at your hotel.

4. Easy direct bookings

You could have all the great components for a stunning web experience, but the hotel website design is practically flawed if your potential visitors can’t make a reservation.

It is essential to enable direct bookings by integrating an online hotel booking engine into your hotel’s website, such as AxisRooms’ booking engine tool. It helps ensure that your website converts website traffic into customers. Direct bookings increase the sales revenue of your hotel.

The primary step is to ensure that your hotel’s website seamlessly integrates with an online booking engine. It is even more vital to make sure that your booking engine integrates into your branding and website design, convincing visitors that your website is secure.

5. Optimize your SEO

Want to know what makes a good hotel website?

The pinnacle of effective hotel website design is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and attracting visitors through search engines must be a crucial aspect of your online marketing strategy.

Here are a few SEO pointers to get more direct bookings and ultimately increase your hotel’s sales revenue:

• Determine the best keywords for your hotel’s SEO.
• Write unique title tags and meta descriptions.
• Improve your hotel website’s loading time and responsiveness.
• Publish keyword-rich, high-quality blogs about your hotel and location that are interesting and educational for visitors to read and learn.
• Enhance your hotel’s customer experience by localising hotel web pages.

Source: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4108295.html

French tourism bosses tell Macron to scrap his travel ban on UK holidaymakers as they accuse him of punishing the industry over worsening ties with Britain

• Tourism bosses have told French President Emmanuel Macron to scrap the travel ban on UK tourists, which was put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus 
• Industry figures claim French resorts face economic catastrophe this month
• The Omicron variant of coronavirus is now the most dominant in France  

French tourism bosses last night told Emmanuel Macron to scrap his travel ban on UK holidaymakers, accusing him of punishing the industry over worsening ties with Britain.

The French president slapped the tough measures on UK tourists shortly before Christmas, claiming it was to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

Senior industry figures across the Channel said several holiday and ski resorts face economic ‘catastrophe’ this month unless the ban is lifted. 

It comes as the country’s own public health agency yesterday admitted Omicron is now the most dominant variant in France. Omicron helped drive infection numbers to a record 232,000 new cases yesterday, piling more pressure on Mr Macron to back down.

Francois Badjily, head of the Alpe d’Huez tourist office, suggested France was playing politics with the pandemic. ‘We have the impression that our industry is being made to pay the price for the poor relations between both countries right now, whether it’s about Brexit or fishing or whatever,’ he said.

Mr Badjily said the current rules were incoherent because fully vaccinated tourists from other countries where the Omicron strain is already present are able to visit.

Vaccine passports are needed to enter French holiday hotspots such as ski resorts, as well as restaurants, bars and leisure facilities.

Alpe d’Huez draws a quarter of its visitors from the UK every year, and Mr Badjily added: ‘Why should a Briton who meets these criteria not be allowed to come, but the French and Belgians can?’

Christophe Lavaut, director of the Val d’Isere ski resort, also called on officials in Paris to axe the ‘compelling reason to travel’ directive that has stopped holidaymakers coming to France. ‘This restriction should simply be lifted as it is no longer necessary,’ he added.

At least 42 per cent of Val d’Isere’s customers are British, said Mr Lavaut, who urged his government to act ‘at the beginning of January’. Mr Macron’s travel measures have created chaos and sowed confusion throughout the entire Christmas break.

Earlier this week, border police even prevented Britons who were legal residents in the EU from returning to their homes – French officials at the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone said they were not allowed to cross through France on health grounds.

But the EU’s top disease agency said in a report last month that Omicron travel restrictions only ‘help buy valuable time during the first days of detection’, adding that in countries already experiencing community transmission ‘such measures will probably not be relevant for much longer’.

The French government failed to reply to the Mail’s request for comment. Germany will remove Britain from its travel red list on Tuesday after its government admitted Omicron was already widely present in the country.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10359911/French-tourism-bosses-tell-Macron-scrap-travel-ban-UK-holidaymakers.html

Coronavirus pandemic could cost global tourism $2 trillion this year

The coronavirus pandemic will likely cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion in lost revenue in 2021, the UN’s tourism body said Monday, calling the sector’s recovery “fragile” and “slow.”

Despite recent improvements, the report warned that demand for travel could be further affected by “uneven vaccination rates around the world and new COVID-19 strains which had prompted new travel restrictions in some countries.

In the past few days, the emergence of the Omicron variant has led dozens of countries to reinstate restrictions on arrivals, or to delay relaxation in COVID-19 travel and testing rules, leading to wide uncertainty for holiday season travellers worldwide.

Spikes in oil prices and the disruption of global supply chains have also had an effect. According to the latest UNWTO data, international tourist arrivals are expected to remain 70-75 per cent below 2019 levels in 2021, a similar decline as in 2020.

‘We cannot let our guard down’

Although a 58 per cent increase in tourist arrivals was registered in July-September of this year compared to the same period in 2020, this remained 64 per cent below 2019 levels, the UN body found.

In August and September, arrivals were at 63 per cent lower than 2019, which is the highest monthly result since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Between January and September 2021, worldwide international tourist arrivals stood at 20 per cent lower, compared to 2020, a clear improvement from the 54 per cent drop, over the first six months of the year. 

“Data for the third quarter of 2021 is encouraging,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. “However, arrivals are still 76 per cent below pre-pandemic levels and results across the different global regions remain uneven.”

In light of the rising cases and the emergence of new variants, he added that “we cannot let our guard down and need to continue our efforts to ensure equal access to vaccinations, coordinate travel procedures, make use of digital vaccination certificates to facilitate mobility, and continue to support the sector.”

Uneven recovery

Despite the improvement seen in the third quarter of the year, the pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across world regions.

In some sub-regions, such as Southern and Mediterranean Europe, the Caribbean, North and Central America, arrivals actually rose above 2020 levels in the first nine months of 2021.

However, arrivals in Asia and the Pacific were down by as much as 95 per cent when compared with 2019, as many destinations remained closed to non-essential travel.

Africa and the Middle East recorded 74 per cent and 81 per cent drops respectively in the third quarter compared to 2019. Among the larger destinations, Croatia, Mexico and Turkey showed the strongest recovery in the period of July to September.

Caribbean rebound

The Caribbean had the highest results of any of the subregions defined by the UNWTO, with arrivals up 55 per cent compared to 2020.

International tourist arrivals “rebounded” during the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere thanks to increased travel confidence, rapid vaccination and the easing of entry restrictions in many nations.

In Europe, the EU Digital Covid Certificate has helped facilitate free movement within the European Union, the report added.

Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1106712

When the Biggest Spenders Aren’t Coming Back Any Time Soon

Even before Omicron’s arrival, China was discouraging its citizens from traveling abroad. That has had a huge impact on global tourism.

On Jeju Island in South Korea, the markets have gone dark. In Bangkok, bored hawkers wait around for customers who never come. In Bali, tour guides have been laid off. In Paris and Rome, the long lines of people with selfie sticks and sun hats are a distant memory.

This was supposed to be the year travel came back. In Europe and Asia, many countries reopened their airports and welcomed tourists. But they are confronting a new reality: Variants such as Omicron are causing global panic, leading governments to shut borders again, and their biggest spenders — Chinese tourists — aren’t returning any time soon.

As part of its effort to maintain a zero-Covid approach, China has announced that international flights would be kept at 2.2 percent of pre-Covid levels during the winter. Since August, it has almost entirely stopped issuing new passports, and it has imposed a 14-day quarantine for all arrivals. Returning to China also requires mountains of paperwork and multiple Covid-19 tests.

No country has been more crucial to global travel in the past decade than China. Chinese tourists spent roughly $260 billion in 2019, exceeding all other nationalities. Their prolonged absence would mean travel revenues are unlikely to return to prepandemic levels soon. Analysts say it could take up to two years before China fully reopens.

Shopping malls have emptied out. Restaurants have shut down. Hotels are deserted.

The downturn is particularly affecting North and Southeast Asia. China is the No. 1 source of tourism in Asia for several large cities, according to Nihat Ercan, the head of investment sales for the Asia Pacific at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, an adviser to the hospitality industry.

The recent discovery of Omicron has prompted countries to reimpose travel restrictions or bar travelers altogether. It’s another blow to an industry that, though still reeling from the lack of Chinese tourists, was just starting to recover.

In Bangkok’s Or Tor Kor fruit market, where masses of Chinese tourists would once gather around tables eating durian, business has ground to a halt. Phakamon Thadawatthanachok, a durian seller, said she used to keep 300 to 400 kilograms of the spiky fruit in stock and had to resupply them three to four times a week to keep up with the demand. Now, she had to take a loan just to make ends meet.

“The loss of income is immeasurable,” she said. “At the moment, we are only holding onto the hope that it will get better someday.”

In Vietnam, the pandemic has caused over 95 percent of tourism businesses to close or suspend operations, according to the government.

Before the pandemic, Chinese visitors flocked to the beach towns of Da Nang and Nha Trang, accounting for around 32 percent of the foreign tourists into the country.

“The service industry in this city has died,” said Truong Thiet Vu, director of a travel company in Nha Trang that is now shut down.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, many tourist agencies have either sold their vehicles or have had them confiscated by their leasing companies, according to Franky Budidarman, the owner of one of two major travel agencies on the island that caters to Chinese tourists.

Mr. Budidarman said he had to cut the salaries of his office workers by half and pivoted to running a food delivery service and a cafe. “I’m grateful that I have survived for two years now,” he said. “I sometimes wonder how I could have done this.”

For the places that catered to Chinese tourists who traveled in group packages, the loss has been especially stark. On Jeju Island, popular among Chinese visitors because they could enter without visas, the number of tourists arriving from China dropped more than 90 percent to 103,000 in 2020 from more than 1 million in 2019. From January to September of this year, that number was only about 5,000.

As many as half of the duty-free shops catering to Chinese tourists in Jeju have closed, according to Hong Sukkyoun, a spokesman for the Jeju Tourism Association. At the Big Market Shopping Center, which used to sell island specialties like chocolate and crafts, all but three of 12 employees have been laid off, said An Younghoon, 33, who was among those who became jobless in July.

“When the virus began spreading, we all started counting our days down,” he said. “We knew there wasn’t going to be any business soon.”

Chinese visitors are less common in Europe, but they had emerged as an increasingly important market in recent years. At the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, for example, about 1,000 people visited per day in its peak, and at least half of them were from China, said Paul Leharne, the museum’s supervisor.

Since its reopening on May 17, the museum has attracted only 10 percent of its usual numbers. This year, it opened an online store to sell merchandise and souvenirs, about a third of which is being shipped to China, he said.

“We really feel their absence,” said Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Colosseum in Rome, referring to Chinese tourists.

Asian tourists, “especially from China,” made up around 40 percent of international visitors to the Colosseum in 2019, according to Ms. Russo. That year, the site had adjusted its panels and guides to include the Chinese language, along with English and Italian.

The number of international tourists arriving in Italy remains down 55 percent, compared with a Europe-wide drop of 48 percent, according to statistics issued in June by ENIT, the national tourism agency. In 2019, two million Chinese tourists visited Italy.

Their disappearance has dealt “a devastating blow” to some businesses that had invested in this particular group, said Fausto Palombelli, head of the tourism section of Unindustria, a business association in the Lazio region, which includes Rome.

Like so many other places, Rome had taken steps to cater to visitors from China. It taught its taxi drivers to thank its Chinese customers with a “xie xie,” or thank you in Mandarin. Its main airport, Fiumicino, offered a personal shopping service with no value-added tax to attract Chinese travelers, according to Raffaele Pasquini, head of marketing and business development at Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Fiumicino.

In France, knowing that it may be months — possibly years — before Chinese tourists return, some are trying to keep a connection with potential customers.

Catherine Oden, who works for Atout France, the national institute in charge of promoting France as a tourist destination, said she had to familiarize herself with Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin to live-stream virtual activities like French cooking lessons and tours of the Château de Chantilly.

“We want to be present in their minds,” she said. “So that once everything gets back to normal, they choose France as their first destination.”

In Paris, long lines of Chinese tourists snaking around the boutiques of the Champs-Élysées used to be a common sight. “Before the pandemic, we had four Chinese-speaking salespeople,” said Khaled Yesli, 28, the retail manager of a luxury boutique on the Champs-Élysées. “We only have one left, and no intention to recruit any more.”

Mr. Yesli said the store’s best-selling product was once a red and gold metal box containing macarons and hand creams that was designed purposely for Chinese tourists. But with sales lackluster in the pandemic, those boxes are now on the bottom shelf.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/world/asia/china-tourism-omicron-covid.html

Country overview: Japanese hotel market to grow by 18,000 rooms

According to the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database, Japan will experience steady growth in the coming years, fuelled by expansion in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.

Our researchers report that 72 hotels with 17,730 rooms are currently in the pipeline across Japan. We take a closer look at the country’s development slate and highlight some schemes that are well worth keeping an eye on.

Japan’s hotel openings by year

Before 2021 draws to a close, five more hotels with 1,085 rooms will open their doors in Japan. For 2022, 28 launches with 4,733 keys have already been pencilled in, followed by another 14 schemes with 2,915 rooms in 2023. A further 25 projects and 8,997 keys are in the works for 2024 and beyond.

Of Japan’s 72 new hotels, 43 will be in the four-star category, while the remaining 29 are targeting the five-star market.

Top urban growth markets

Osaka, one of the country’s key economic hubs, will get eight new hotels in the coming years, adding 4,553 rooms to the city’s offering. Over half of this impressive figure stems from a single megaproject incidentally – the 2,500-key MGM Resort Osaka.

Elsewhere, and only a short drive from Osaka, the cultural hotspot of Kyoto will get seven new properties with 995 keys. And the capital Tokyo will see six hotels with 1,348 rooms open soon.

International hotel brands expanding in Japan

All three of Japan’s fastest-growing hotel brands hail from North America.

Fairfield Inn & Suites, by Marriott International, takes the lead with 11 active projects set to bring 900 new rooms into play. Fellow US giant Hilton Worldwide’s signature brand Hilton Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, will add five properties and 1,747 keys to its offering in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Lastly, Canada-based Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts is currently working on three projects with 495 rooms.

Exciting new hotels in Japan’s project pipeline

Let’s start with Hoshino Resorts Omo7 Osaka Shin-Imamiya, which is due to open opposite a major train station in Q2, 2022. From here, guests will be able to easily reach Kansai International Airport as well as popular downtown areas. On top of its convenient location, the hotel will benefit from expansive green spaces, multiple restaurants, a cafeteria and open spaces for public events.

Over in the foothills of Mount Fuji, Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Fuji Speedway will offer guests convenient access to events at the new Motorsports Village facility. Once the property opens, it’ll feature 120 rooms and suites, a flexible banquet room of 500 sq m, a 200 sq m conference room, fine-dining restaurants, bars, an indoor pool, a fitness centre, a spa and natural onsen hot-spring bathing facilities. Guests will also be able to gain access to the onsite car museum, celebrating the historic significance of Fuji Speedway.

Finally, in early 2023, Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Okinawa will begin welcoming guests. The 120-room resort is located on the beachfront along the island’s western coast, just 31 miles from Naha International Airport. Its facilities will include an all-day dining restaurant, specialty dining, a lounge, shops and recreational facilities, as well as public grounds and gardens.

Source: https://tophotel.news/country-overview-japanese-hotel-market-to-grow-by-18000-rooms-infographic/

2022 hotlist: Europe’s top three openings

Europe is set to debut hundreds of new hotel projects next year, with a total of 87,206 rooms expected across 535 openings – here’s our pick of three stellar schemes to watch out for.

We take a look at a trio of standout hotel schemes scheduled to complete in 2022 – an architecturally ambitious project in Frankfurt, a historic conversion in London and a landmark hotel for Belgrade.

Roomers Park View, Frankfurt

Developed by RFR and Hines in partnership with the Gekko Group, this under-construction hotel forms part of a mixed-use project consisting of two buildings: a 19-storey hotel tower and a 26-storey tower for condos with access to Roomers services. Located in Frankfurt’s Westend, Roomers Park View will afford impressive views over Grüneburgpark and the city’s skyline when it opens in late 2022.

The 136-key Roomers hotel will place the focus on suite accommodation and come with a host of amenities, including a special gastronomic concept, 19th-floor panoramic bar and 18th-floor spa. The project is being designed by architect KSP Engel, with interiors courtesy of Piero Lissoni.

Fulham Town Hall by Room2, London

The former Fulham Town Hall site, which is currently being restored by Ziser London, is set to enter a new era as a premium Room2 hometel. The hometel will span the property’s elegantly restored wings and a newly developed space, with Da Costa Mahindroo Architects and Corstorphine & Wright working on the architecture, juxtaposing innovative elements with the grade II*-listed building’s historic façade.

The interiors of Name Architecture promise to push the boundaries of artistic rebelliousness. On completion in the third quarter of 2022, it’ll house both event and co-working space, along with 90 guestrooms.

The St Regis Belgrade

A five-star newbuild, The St Regis Belgrade will occupy the first nine floors of Kula Belgrade, a 40-storey mixed-use tower within Eagle Hill’s huge Belgrade Waterfront development. The under-construction property is being designed by architectural firm SOM in London, with interiors by HOK’s London studio.

Expected to launch in the second quarter of 2022, the 119-key scheme will offer guests views over the city or River Sava, along with a destination restaurant at the top of the tower. There’ll also be an all-day dining restaurant and a St Regis Bar, inspired by the King Cole Bar at The St Regis New York. Among the other notable amenities being planned are a spa, a pool, a fitness centre and event space.

Source: https://tophotel.news/2022-hotlist-europes-top-three-openings/

Supports for Indigenous tourism businesses continue

Indigenous tourism businesses will receive another financial boost to aid in pandemic recovery and foster growth through the continued partnership of the Province and Indigenous Tourism BC.

“Back by popular demand, we are responding once again to the Call to Action from the Indigenous tourism sector,” said Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. “These grants are reconciliation in action and support self-determination for Indigenous tourism businesses to showcase their territories, culture and people. Together with Indigenous Tourism BC, we are working to rebuild Indigenous-led tourism and return it to the thriving levels of growth we saw before the pandemic, resulting in a stronger future for everyone.”

The Province initially provided $5 million to Indigenous Tourism B.C. (ITBC) to create the BC Indigenous Tourism Recovery Fund. It is now is providing an additional $3 million for a second intake.

Launched in February 2021, the fund provides grants to Indigenous tourism businesses, including lodges and resorts, restaurants, outdoor adventure experiences, galleries and gift shops owned by Indigenous people. Recipients can use the funds to keep the lights on and pay rent or employee wages. The intake opening date for the second round of the recovery grant will be announced by ITBC in the coming weeks.

“ITBC has worked hard with stakeholders and provided a support system for businesses to continue operating during the pandemic,” said Brenda Baptiste, chair, Indigenous Tourism BC. “We are extremely grateful for the partnerships and work that we do with the tourism industry and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.”

For example, Ay Lelum, the Good House of Design on the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, used its grant to maintain its business.

“The ITBC grant process was well-developed and efficient, which allowed us to focus on doing the work that we do in sharing Coast Salish art and culture. The funds enabled us to maintain our business operations while developing our newest collections, resulting in our successful launch at New York Fashion Week in fall 2021,” said Aunalee Boyd-Good and Sophia Seward-Good, sisters, directors and designers of Ay Lelum, the Good House of Design, a second-generation Coast Salish design house. “With our Stqeeye’ Collection showcase, we were able to share Coast Salish art, music and culture on a global scale, and reach millions of viewers worldwide, benefiting our business and our community in a positive way.”

Quick Facts:

• There are more than 480 Indigenous tourism businesses, within the 203 First Nations in British Columbia.
• Prior to the pandemic, Indigenous tourism was the fastest-growing sector of the tourism industry. It generated $705 million in direct gross domestic output and created 7,400 direct full-time jobs.
• 140 Indigenous tourism businesses received grants through the first round of the BC Indigenous Tourism Recovery Fund, which is a partnership with Indigenous Tourism BC.  
• These grants have assisted in maintaining nearly 1,200 jobs in communities throughout B.C. in the past year.
• The BC Indigenous Tourism Recovery Fund is part of the Province’s actions to support the recovery of the tourism industry.

Source: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021TACS0065-002176

India opens to fully vaccinated foreign tourists

Restriction rollback marks the first time since March 2020 that India has allowed foreign tourists on commercial flights to enter the country.

India began allowing fully vaccinated foreign tourists to enter the country on regular commercial flights, in the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions as infections fall and vaccinations rise.

Tourists entering India, starting on Monday, must be fully vaccinated, follow all COVID-19 protocols and test negative for the virus within 72 hours of their flight, according to the health ministry. Many will also need to undergo a post-arrival COVID-19 test at the airport.

However, travellers from countries that have agreements with India for mutual recognition of vaccination certificates, such as the United States, United Kingdom and many European nations, can leave the airport without undergoing a COVID-19 test.

This is the first time India has allowed foreign tourists on commercial flights to enter the country since March 2020, when it imposed one of the toughest lockdowns in the world in an attempt to contain the pandemic. Fully vaccinated tourists on chartered flights were allowed to enter starting last month.

It came as coronavirus infections had fallen significantly, with daily new cases hovering at just above 10,000 for more than a month.

To encourage travellers to visit India, the government planned to issue 500,000 free visas through next March. The moves were expected to boost the tourism and hospitality sector which has been battered by the pandemic.

“The pandemic devastated the industry but things will return to normal once foreign tourists start to arrive,” said Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India.

Mayal said coastal states like Kerala and Goa in the country’s south and Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayan north are already witnessing a surge in domestic tourists. All four states are heavily dependent on earnings from tourism, and Mayal said foreign travellers scheduling their visits there would also help lift the local economy.

“Tourism is a very resilient industry and the upcoming season looks very promising. We are hopeful of generating more jobs than we lost during the pandemic,” she said.

With more than 35 million reported coronavirus infections, India is the second-worst-hit country after the US. Active coronavirus cases stand at 134,096, the lowest in 17 months, according to the health ministry.

Nearly 79 percent of India’s adult population has received at least one vaccine dose while 38 percent is fully vaccinated. The federal government has asked state administrations to conduct door-to-door campaigns to accelerate the vaccine campaign.

Fewer than three million foreign tourists visited India in 2020, a drop of more than 75 percent from 2019, when tourism brought nearly $30bn in earnings.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/11/15/india-opens-to-fully-vaccinated-foreign-tourists