Inbound is recovering. What kind of service can capture demand? Kotaro Kashiwabara, chairman of the Japan Gastronomy Association, said, “We need to meet the needs of the wealthy. For example, at the Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo, which opened in Yaesu, Tokyo in April, the lowest price for a twin room is 300,000 yen per night. but the more expensive suites are already booked.”
*This article is written by Kotaro Kashiwabara.“Hoodie” regenerates Japan! Japan’s Gourmet Nation Theory: Gastronomy Tourism in the Era](Nikkan Gendai) is a re-edited version.
“Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo” opened (= April 4, 2023, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Wealthy people during COVID-19 are spending on luxury domestic travel
It is not that the corona crisis stopped the growth of the global economy as a whole, but that the disparity between the winners and losers widened, and the winners doubled their assets due to benefits such as rising stock prices, and entertainment expenses increased. I’m here.
Due to the airport blockade due to the corona virus, it is inevitable that inbound tourists cannot enter the country, but the outbound (Japanese overseas travelers) who exceeded 20 million people in 2019 are actually quietly active in Japan even in the corona disaster. was doing.
One day, the owner of a number of luxury ryokan across Japan said to me:
“I can’t say it openly, but sales in fiscal 2021 have already exceeded pre-coronavirus levels.It’s not because of corona’s cooperation funds or subsidies.The wealthy people are secretly starting to spend money in Japan. I am
This situation is the same around the world, and the wealthy who have increased their assets during the COVID-19 crisis are unable to spend on overseas trips. It is said that
In fact, I hear that the luxury hotels built in Okinawa over the past few years were fully booked even during the corona crisis, and even a hotel built on a remote island more than 10 years ago cost less than 100 million yen at the time. It seems that every day there are offers from Asians who want to buy land for billions.
The walls of luxury accommodation management “7.30.100”
According to the manager mentioned above, there are “7, 30, 100” walls in the management of luxury accommodation facilities.
When considering a luxury ryokan with two meals per night, no matter how elaborate the facilities and meals are, charging more than 70,000 yen per night is a high psychological hurdle. Certainly, from the point of view of ordinary Japanese people, it would be difficult to choose an inn that costs 150,000 yen for two people unless it is a very special reward.
However, looking at the behavior of Japan’s wealthy class, he says that 300,000 yen per night is now quite affordable. I will explain this in detail later, but if you look at the prices of the Seto Inland Sea’s luxury sightseeing boat “Gantu” and Kyushu’s cruise train “Seven Stars”, they cost more than 300,000 yen per night, and inbound tourists come to Japan due to the corona crisis. Even though I didn’t do it, I’m in a situation where I can’t make a reservation at all.
