Photo/Illutration Guests can enjoy an Italian course meal while watching a video of a tour of Italy with a stay package for the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. (Sho Hatsumi)

While enjoying the taste of a full-course meal developed by chefs of Excelsior Hotel Gallia--a luxury hotel in the sightseeing city of Milan--guests viewed footage of tourist spots in Italy from a hotel room in Tokyo. 

Starting with an aircraft taking off, the 50-minute reel shows the Milan Cathedral, or Duomo di Milano, La Scala and other noted tourist sites through the eyes of travelers.

The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho hotel's “virtual trip” option is proving popular among guests amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The option allows guests to feel as though they are visiting famed resort areas abroad by watching videos of those destinations. 

The hotel, near the National Diet building in Tokyo, started providing an Italian tour in February.

Hotel operators and travel agencies are rolling out the red carpet with their “staycation” packages, giving consumers an option amid the pandemic to enjoy domestic luxury accommodations in lieu of making overseas trips.

As people cannot stay long far from home in and outside Japan due to the novel coronavirus crisis, the new recreation style is in demand among newlyweds and others.

The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho extended the service periods for their previous tours of Spain and Hawaii after receiving good reviews. 

Although one suite for two starts at 130,000 yen ($1,051) per night, 300 guests have booked the package since its release in January last year.

Special packages were not needed before the virus outbreak as most of its patrons were people on business trips, said Naoko Shibata, manager of the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho.

Eighty percent of the hotel’s guests came from outside Japan before the pandemic. Far fewer Japanese from afar have come to stay since, with many refraining from venturing out for business and tourism.

Thus, the operator developed 30 offerings--including a “saunacation” service, where guests enjoy steam bathing within the establishment--in hopes of winning over consumers in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area and elsewhere nearby.

Hoshinoya Tokyo, a pricy hotel affiliated with Hoshino Resorts Inc. that stands near the Imperial Palace, made a new package available in March 2020 where guests can book an entire floor.

A floor comprises six guest rooms and a 50-square-meter communal lounge to be shared by family members and friends.

Hoshinoya Tokyo initially expected to see only a few groups per year make such reservations, but 30 groups have taken advantage of it. The package apparently remains in high demand even after the basic rate was raised from 318,780 yen to 567,522 yen per night.

Most visitors to Hoshinoya Tokyo previously came from overseas, but many guests from elsewhere in the capital, including newlyweds, started popping up amid the pandemic.

“Our hotel is apparently chosen as a destination rather than going abroad on trips,” said Lee Geunju, manager of Hoshinoya Tokyo.

Travel agencies are jumping on board to secure a new source of revenue that can replace that from overseas tours.

JTB Corp. pitched in February two gift catalogs featuring packages at upscale hotels and ryokan nationwide.

Guests can choose their favorite rooms from among those priced at 221,100 yen or 331,100 yen per night for two, such as a suite at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in the capital’s Bunkyo Ward.

The expensive options were created after gift catalogs for hotel packages ranging from 30,000 yen to 100,000 yen were put on sale in summer 2020 and were well received. 

JTB representatives said they are inundated with inquiries from enterprises wanting to present the catalogs to their employees and business partners as bonuses or gifts in place of travel packages overseas.

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