Photo/Illutration Travelers pack a street heading toward Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto. (Yoshiaki Arai)

The return of crowds of foreign tourists to Japan coupled with a chronic personnel shortage in the hotel and transportation industries are creating various problems for an increasingly overwhelmed tourism sector.

The Japan National Tourism Organization said July 19 that foreign tourists in June topped 2 million for the first time since January 2020, when the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading around the world.

HIGHER DEMAND BRINGS HIGHER PRICES

Foreign tourists are flocking to hotels designed especially for them, such as the Mimaru Suites in Tokyo’s Asakusa district. The hotel opened in December with a design like a traditional Japanese home.

It is one of 26 facilities that Cosmos Hotel Management Co. manages around Japan. In April, 90 percent of the company’s guests were from abroad.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 15 percent of the company’s rooms were occupied, forcing the company to slash room rates to as low as 15,000 yen ($108).

But with about 70 percent of the rooms now occupied, the average rate has risen to about 32,000 yen.

“Because consumer prices are rising around the world and due to the effects of a weak yen, foreigners probably don’t think the prices are too high,” said a company official.

Seibu Holdings Inc. operates the Prince Hotel chain. In May, the average room rate for its domestic hotels increased by 23.8 percent compared to May 2019. While the room occupancy rate has dropped by close to 10 percentage points compared to before the pandemic, the company’s room revenues exceeded that of four years ago.

Some hotels are raising their prices to keep occupancy rates down because of staff shortages.

Teikoku Databank Ltd. conducted a survey in April of 27,663 companies around Japan and found that 75.5 percent of those in the hotel and inn industry reported a shortage of regular employees, while 78 percent said there was a shortage of irregular workers, second only to the restaurant industry.

LONGER LINES SEEN EVERYWHERE

The worker shortage is also causing various problems for transportation companies.

On July 16, about 130 people were waiting in line for buses in front of West Japan Railway Co.’s (JR West) JR Kyoto Station, headed for popular tourist destinations such as Kiyomizudera temple and the Gion entertainment district.

A 46-year-old Kyoto resident uses the bus for her commute, but she has found it more difficult to ride with there being more foreign tourists often hauling large suitcases with them onto the bus.

Some of the trains waiting to leave Kyoto Station for the picturesque Arashiyama district were packed with foreign tourists, too.

The platform for arriving trains was also full of passengers as locals often use the Sagano Line.

Locals have begun complaining to JR West, which operates the line, about the congestion. The company plans to add six to 10 additional train runs every day from July during the summer season.

“It is important that people who use the line every day can do so comfortably,” said JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa.

Kyoto residents have also complained about the crowded buses, leading the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau to decide to do away with its one-day pass, now selling for 700 yen, at the end of March 2024.

About 90 percent of those who use the pass are travelers  from outside the ancient capital.

Meanwhile, buses and taxis for the popular tourist destination of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, are also becoming more crowded.

Long lines are common at bus stops, but there is little that companies can do amid a driver shortage.

Taxis are also in short supply because of a driver shortage.

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, taxi operator Hakone Mobility Service Co. reduced its number of vehicles from 100 to 66. Now, the company is having trouble recruiting new drivers.

Unable to do much else, company employees can be seen handing out bottled water and hand towels to those waiting in line for taxis in the hot sun.

(This article was written by Takashi Yoshida, Akifumi Nagahashi and Go Takahashi.)

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