Tokyo: The Japan fair trade surveillance dog warned 15 luxury hotels in Tokyo that their sharing of information on occupancy rates and prices could violate anti-monopoly laws.
The prices of hotels across the country have skyrocketed in recent months, the record number of foreign tourists took place in Japan in the middle of the shortages of labor and obstinate inflation.
The main hotel operators in the capital, including the Imperial Hotel and New Otani, held monthly meetings, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said in a statement on Thursday May 8.
“They exchanged information on the monthly occupancy rates of the rooms, the average prices of the rooms, the revenues by room, the reservations and the future policies to fix the future prices of the room,” said the press release.
The other hotel operators warned by the commission include the Keio Plaza hotel, the Okura Tokyo hotel, the Seibu Prince Worldwide and Fujita Kanko hotels, Japan Times reported.
The JFTC said that it had “warned the 15 companies not to engage in similar acts” which “could fall … an unreasonable reservoir” prohibited by law.
Cartels and auction are part of the acts that fall under an unreasonable restriction of trade, according to the JFTC.
According to Tokyo Shoko Research, the average price per room for 12 non -luxurious hotel brands in Japan in October to December 2024 increased to ¥ 16,289 (US $ 110), up 17.8% in annual shift.
This average price almost doubled compared to ¥ 8,171 in 2021 during the pandemic.
