Society

Japan's classic hotels unite to increase overseas visibility

Aug 03 (Nikkei) - Nine major Japanese hotels established before World War II are kicking off a joint marketing blitz and enhancing services to lure more foreign tourists.

The hotels will form an association and start joint promotional activities in autumn. They also plan to exchange staff and have employees spend nights in each other's establishments to discover ways to improve services across the group.

According to a hotel official, Japan's classic hotels are not well known overseas. The association aims to make the hotels more visible to the surging number of foreign visitors arriving in Japan.

The association will be comprised of the following hotels: Hotel New Grand in Yokohama, Nikko Kanaya Hotel in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture; Tokyo Station Hotel in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward; Fujiya Hotel in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture; Mampei Hotel in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture; Kawana Hotel in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture; Gamagori Classic Hotel in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture; Nara Hotel in Nara; and Unzen Kanko Hotel in Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture.

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