Japanese tourists embrace non-Japanese hotels

There was a time when Japanese travellers preferred to stay at Japanese-branded hotels when they travelled abroad. Not anymore.



Exposure to foreign hotel chains flagging properties in Japan in recent years has brought familiarity with their brands within the country, says a Japanese hotelier.

“Some 10 years ago, Japanese preferred Japanese-style hotels but they have now seen international chains like Four Seasons, Conrad, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt and so on,” said Makoto Tanaka, assistant vice president, global marketing, marketing, sales and marketing, JAL Hotels Company.



“They are getting used to them, so when they go abroad, they don’t mind staying at international chain hotels.”



Similarly, Japanese chains like JAL Hotels are also spreading beyond Asia.



Its opening the Fujairah Resort & Spa in December this year and JAL Tower Dubai next. Bahrain is in the works for 2008.



It’s also opening a Nikko (one of its brands, the other being JAL City) hotel in Tianjin in China, adding to the two in Beijing and one in Dalian.



Besides Middle East and China, Tanaka said India is also in the pipeline but he had no dates yet.



JAL’s hotel business – a subsidiary of Japan Airlines – went through a rough patch in the late 1990s when it suffered from the purchasing spree that saw the company buying prestigious overseas hotels in the 1980s and early 1990s.



It sold off its hotel and other assets to keep in the black.



“We are now an operator, not owner,” he said, of the strategy behind the new management contracts.



JAL is now said to be eyeing a stock listing.