Foreign tourists set new record for hotel stays in Kyoto, with most visiting from China

Mar 16, 2018 | News On Japan

Mar 16, 2018 (Japan Times) - A survey of 36 major Kyoto city hotels showed that foreigners accounted for 40.5 percent of their total guests in 2017, the highest figure recorded since the survey began in 2014.

Visitors from mainland China to the hotels accounted for the largest share, 23.9 percent, of total foreign guests. They were followed by guests from Taiwan (18 percent of the total), the United States (12.5 percent), South Korea (5 percent) and Hong Kong (4.7 percent).

Total occupancy rate for the hotels in 2017 was 88.8 percent. The busiest months were the cherry blossom viewing season in April, when the occupancy rate reached 94.6 percent, and the latter half of November, at 94.1 percent when the autumn colors were at their peak. The slowest period of the year was early January, when the occupancy rate dropped to 71.4 percent.

The percentage of mainland Chinese visitors peaked in August. The percentage of Taiwanese and South Korean guests peaked in February, while the percentage of Hong Kong visitors peaked in July. For Americans, June was the peak month.

With the exception of January, February, December, the second half of June and the second half of July, the monthly occupancy rate was 90 percent or above. The survey did not include many recently opened smaller boutique hotels or minpaku (private lodging) facilities.

The 40.5 percent figure for foreign guests is a 3.2 percentage point rise over the comparable figure for 2016. Kyoto city attributes it to an increase in the number of budget airline flights between Kansai airport and other cities, especially in Asia.

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