By YOKO HIBINO/ Staff Writer
December 13, 2025 at 18:18 JST
A room at the Courtyard by Marriott Kyoto Shijo Karasuma (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
KYOTO—For the first time in about seven years, major hotels here reported an occupancy rate of 90 percent in October, showing the continuing high rate of demand in the ancient capital, particularly among foreign visitors.
The Kyoto City Tourism Association said the October figure for hotel occupancy was an increase of 1.3 percentage points over October 2024.
The average fee for a night was 24,859 yen ($160), an increase of 15.2 percent over October 2024.
Japanese guests spent a total of 278,570 nights in Kyoto, a year-on-year decrease of 13 percent, while foreign tourists spent a total of 721,362 nights, an increase of 12.5 percent.
The ratio of stays by foreigners was 72.1 percent, second only to the record 78.1 percent of April.
By nation, tourists from the United States accounted for 20.7 percent of the stays, while China was second at 16.1 percent.
The occupancy rate is expected to fall from November because Beijing has called on its citizens to refrain from visiting Japan in the wake of a comment by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding a military conflict in Taiwan.
Subsequently, there has been an increase in cancellations of rooms in Kyoto by Chinese visitors amid the rising tensions.
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