Due to the relaxation of corona border measures, the number of foreign tourists has increased, but the labor shortage has become an issue

It's been 3 weeks since the new corona virus's border measures have been greatly eased.

Some hotels in Tokyo have seen a significant increase in reservations due to factors such as an increase in the number of foreign tourists.

Regarding the border measures for the new coronavirus, the upper limit on the number of people entering Japan per day was raised to 50,000 on the 7th of last month, and on the 11th of this month, the upper limit on the number of people entering the country was lifted, and individual foreign travel The entry of customers has also been lifted, and it has been greatly eased.

At a hotel in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, in an attempt to attract foreign tourists by promoting Japanese traditions, all guest rooms have tatami mats, and sake is served next to the front desk.

Since last month, the number of reservations from the United States, Europe, South Korea, etc. has increased, and the number of reservations from foreigners has doubled compared to last month, as border measures have been greatly eased this month. .

In addition, the number of domestic travelers using the "National Travel Support" is increasing, so the occupancy rate of guest rooms this month is about 65%, which is about double that of the same month last year. .

In addition, next month and the month after next are almost fully booked.

The general manager of HOSHINOYA Tokyo, Genka Lee, said, "Thankfully, we are very happy that so many customers have used our service. I feel that there is, so I would like to strive to further improve the service."

Tokyo Asakusa bustling with foreign tourists

Many foreign tourists visited Asakusa, Tokyo on the 30th, enjoying sightseeing by taking pictures and riding rickshaws.

A woman in her 70s who came from Hawaii said, "I'm planning to stay in Japan for about two weeks, and I'll be sightseeing in places like Kyoto and Hida Takayama. I love the food, scenery, and culture of Japan." .

An Italian couple in their 20s said, ``I couldn't travel far for a while due to the new corona, so I was traveling around Europe. .

Staff shortages, hotels closing restaurants

While the number of foreign guests is increasing, some hotels are affected by labor shortages, such as restaurants being unable to operate due to a lack of employees.

At a hotel in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, since the spread of the new coronavirus infection, reservations for foreigners have almost stopped until last month, but due to the relaxation of border measures, the number has increased significantly since this month. .

With the start of the "National Travel Support", about 80% of the guest rooms are fully booked by the end of the year, of which 10% are reserved by foreigners.

On the other hand, at this hotel, about 50 out of 140 full-time employees have retired since the spread of the new corona infection, and it is currently operating with about 20% fewer people than before the corona disaster.

For this reason, we had to temporarily change the restaurant staff to the guest room and front desk staff, and from next month we decided to cancel the restaurant business on weekday nights.

In addition, it is said that there are reservation inquiries so much that the guest rooms are fully booked depending on the day, but due to a shortage of employees, the guest room occupancy rate is limited to about 80%.

It is said that the current room rate is lower than the level before the corona disaster, but due to the impact of soaring prices, the price of ingredients and the cleaning fee for guest room sheets and towels are also rising. If it continues to be high, we may consider raising the price of accommodation.

In order to alleviate the shortage of staff, the hotel will install a device that allows guests to automatically check in by operating a terminal from next month.

Hiroaki Iwamoto, general manager of Tokyo Bay Tokyu Hotel, said, "I'm grateful that many customers have used it, but especially because young employees have continued to retire, the labor shortage is very severe. We are promoting automation and IT. I want to make up for it," he said.

More than 60% of respondents in the ryokan and hotel industry lack of employees

In the ryokan and hotel industry, more than 60% of companies responded that they had a shortage of regular and non-regular employees in a private survey conducted last month.

Teikoku Databank, a private credit research company, conducts monthly surveys of about 26,000 companies nationwide in about 50 industries.

According to the latest survey results as of last month, by industry, 62.5% of companies in the "ryokan/hotel" industry responded that they were "lack of full-time employees."

In addition, 62.3% of non-regular employees in the "ryokan/hotel" industry answered that they were "shortage."

Behind this situation, it seems that the number of foreign tourists has increased and the sense of busyness has increased as the border measures against the new coronavirus are eased.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists, including tourists, who visited Japan last month was estimated at 206,500, surpassing 200,000 for the first time since the spread of the new coronavirus infection.

While tourism demand is expected to recover in the future due to the drastic easing of measures at the border and the "National Travel Assistance", there are issues such as how to deal with labor shortages.

Expert "Introduce cashless payment and check-in automation"

Akiko Kosaka, a senior researcher at the Japan Research Institute, who is familiar with tourism and other fields, said, "I heard that reservations and inquiries from overseas people increased to Japanese lodging companies immediately after the government announced the drastic relaxation of border measures. Japan's tourist destinations are very popular, and there are many foreigners who want to visit Japan.International flights have been forced to reduce considerably, but airlines are actively trying to return to their previous movements, so there are also means of transportation. I think that the number of people who have been secured and will visit Japan will increase in the future."

On top of that, regarding the trends in accommodation prices, he said, ``Since it is a relationship between supply and demand, it is natural that prices will rise if there is a lot of demand. It is unavoidable that the price will be higher than what was offered during the corona crisis."

Regarding the measures to solve the labor shortage, she said, ``By introducing technologies such as cashless payment and check-in automation, we will create a system that can put excellent human resources in the hospitality that is really necessary. is important," he said.