Number of hotels and inns in Japan FY 2005-2021
In the fiscal year 2021, close to 90 thousand hotels and inns were registered in Japan, further increasing compared to the previous year. Accommodation establishments in Japan are most commonly separated into occidental-style hotels and traditional Japanese-style inns (ryokan) featuring rooms furnished with tatami mats.
Room occupancy in accommodation facilities
Holiday accommodations in Japan include city hotels, business hotels, resort hotels, ryokan, and group lodgings. While ryokan offer overnight guests a unique experience with its Japanese-style rooms (washitsu), the inns are less commonly found in large city centers and are pricier than hotels, resulting in comparatively low occupancy rates. In contrast, city hotels attract tourists with their comparatively inexpensive lodging around city centers and popular sightseeing spots. Traditionally city hotels secured the highest guest room occupancy rate among accommodation facilities in Japan, but in 2020 fell behind business hotels due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Domestic travelers constitute the industry's main pillar
Even though the Japanese tourism industry is bustling with growth potential in inbound tourism, domestic travel activities remain the focus of the market. While the number of lodging guests showed continuous growth in recent years, foreign nationals made up only one fifth of overnight guests. This further declined during the pandemic, as international travel became scant. Among overseas travelers, the most popular prefectures to stay for the night were mainly connected to large metropolises like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hokkaido.
Room occupancy in accommodation facilities
Holiday accommodations in Japan include city hotels, business hotels, resort hotels, ryokan, and group lodgings. While ryokan offer overnight guests a unique experience with its Japanese-style rooms (washitsu), the inns are less commonly found in large city centers and are pricier than hotels, resulting in comparatively low occupancy rates. In contrast, city hotels attract tourists with their comparatively inexpensive lodging around city centers and popular sightseeing spots. Traditionally city hotels secured the highest guest room occupancy rate among accommodation facilities in Japan, but in 2020 fell behind business hotels due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Domestic travelers constitute the industry's main pillar
Even though the Japanese tourism industry is bustling with growth potential in inbound tourism, domestic travel activities remain the focus of the market. While the number of lodging guests showed continuous growth in recent years, foreign nationals made up only one fifth of overnight guests. This further declined during the pandemic, as international travel became scant. Among overseas travelers, the most popular prefectures to stay for the night were mainly connected to large metropolises like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hokkaido.
