The long holiday is coming soon.

While congestion is expected in various places, labor shortages are a major issue for accommodation facilities such as tourist spots.

On the other hand, amid rising prices, a wave of price increases has surged into tourist spots around the country, and travel costs tend to increase.

Under these circumstances, a new style in which travelers are paid for their work at their accommodation is attracting attention from both travelers and accommodation facilities.

The guests have returned to the inn, but...

At a tourist ryokan in Kinugawa Onsen in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, the shortage of labor has been an issue since around January when customers returned.

Before the spread of the new coronavirus, there were about 1 employees, but due to the reduction of work due to the decrease in guests and anxiety about physical condition, the number of retirees decreased to about 45 one after another, and there were concerns that operations such as welcoming guests and preparing would be affected.

For this reason, they recruited employees, but due to the fact that there are many elderly people in the area, they did not attract young employees to take on tasks such as serving food and cleaning.

Ryokans are focusing on a new style of "getting help from travelers"

In this context, we are relying on new services provided by companies that mediate travelers and accommodations.

The new service is to "provide travelers with a place to stay and help them with their work in exchange for paying a fee."

Since the beginning of April, we have been able to gather 4 young people, including university students, through an intermediary company, and they have helped us with front desk operations, serving meals, and cleaning guest rooms.

Chiaki Oda, a 22-year-old university student from Gunma Prefecture, is participating for one month from April 4.

Mr. Oda is in charge of front desk work such as check-out in the morning, and during the day, he takes a walk around the area and enjoys a meal before returning to front desk work in the evening.

Mr. Oda said, "I have always loved traveling and wanted to try new things, so I participated because I thought that I could achieve my ideal life of traveling as if I were living while experiencing various jobs.

I'm glad I came because people at work can show me around my hometown, and the salary I receive can make my trip more fulfilling, and there are moments when I can directly tell them that I'm helping them, and I feel like I'm helping them while serving customers."

At this tourist inn, 1% of the rooms are already booked during the long holidays, and it has been decided that nine new young people will come to help.

Ryokans are also expected to find employment in the future

Mr. Inoue of the tourist ryokan "Hanasengo" said, "I thought it was very risky because if there are few people, there is a possibility that the service will not be adequate. Many of the people who come to help are inexperienced, so we have to teach them, but many active and motivated people are helpful. The long holidays are the first busy season since Corona calmed down, so I'm nervous, but I want to make use of the power of my youth and get it done. In the future, I would like to expect secondary and tertiary effects, such as leading to employment and having people come back to travel."

In a company that mediates travelers and accommodations, etc.

This service is provided by an intermediary company in Tokyo, and has the advantage of securing manpower for accommodation facilities and farmers, and for users, it also has the advantage of being able to travel in their free time in addition to remuneration.

As inquiries about securing labor ahead of the long holidays are increasing, the number of job openings during the long holidays has increased by about 1.4 times from last year, and accommodation facilities account for more than half of them.

In addition, the number of people planning to use it during the long holidays has almost doubled from last year, and demand for both sides is increasing.

Rina Nagaoka, CEO of Otetsutabi, a service provider, said, "Labor shortages have become an issue in the tourism industry, such as accommodation facilities where reservations cannot be made due to lack of manpower even if rooms are available.