Michael_Voyageur Administrateur
Inscrit le: 21 Sep 2003 Messages: 2585 Points: 47746 Pays, Ville: Paris, France - Tokyo, Japan
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Posté le: 17 Nov 2003 23:21 Sujet du message: Guerre sur les services entre les hotels de Tokyo au profit des clients
Note du Post : 5 Nombre d'avis : 1 |
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Face a l'augmentation du nombre d'hotels et de chambres, et une competition acrue sur les prix, les hotels haut-de-gamme de Tokyo se font une competition feroce notamment en lancant de nouvelles games de services pour reconquerir des clients ocasionels ou conquerir de nouveaux clients : chambres de luxe a moitie prix durant la journee, tarif special couples maries (au Keio notamment), service gratuits (piscine, coifeur, massages...), communications telephoniques nationales gratuites, services de creche/garde d'enfant inclus dans le prix etc...
Source : Yomiuri Shimbun
Tokyo hotels wage battle over services
Tomoyoshi Tateishi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Competition in the Tokyo hotel market is heating up with the increasing number of new hotels, including foreign-backed ones, that are popping up across the city skyline posing a serious challenge to their established rivals.
A succession of large hotels have been established in newly developed areas of the capital, such as Roppongi Hills. The increase is expected to lead to about 94,000 hotel rooms becoming available by 2007--an increase of 10,000 rooms, or a 12 percent rise from the 84,000 available at the end of March 2002.
In terms of occupancy levels and room charges, Tokyo hotels are ranked among the world's highest, along with such major cities as Hong Kong and London.
Many foreign-capital hotels have been set up in Tokyo, targeting the city's huge market. In coming years, St. Regis of the United States and Peninsula Hotels of Hong Kong are scheduled to open hotels in the capital.
To survive the new competition, the established operators are making desperate efforts to boost occupancy rates.
Some hotels have introduced new services, such as a discount service offered during the daytime targeting businesspeople, special packages for middle-aged people and free telephone services.
Tokyo hotels are fiercely vying with each other to attract both business customers and tourists, both at home and abroad. But it is difficult for them to lure guests unless they can offer a unique service.
Akasaka Prince Hotel in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, is promoting a service called Day-Use, in which a guest can use a luxury hotel room for 20,000 yen from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The same rooms are usually priced at 37,000 yen per overnight stay. According to the hotel, most of the users of the service have been businesspeople in their 30s.
"If they bring in PCs (personal computers) to the hotel, (guests) can use the room just like their office. They also can eat in the hotel and receive massage service and swim in the pool. This is why the service has turned out to be very popular," said an official of the hotel's planning department.
A 38-year-old man working for a foreign securities firm said he used the service regularly.
"When I have to write a report, I can concentrate here more than I can at the office or at home. The hotel has the necessary telecommunications equipment, such as access to the Internet and fax machines. So I use this hotel as a sort of private office," he said.
Though Akasaka Prince Hotel is advertising the service only on its Web site, it has attracted a growing number of customers largely through word of mouth, hotel officials said.
Starting later this month, the hotel plans to expand the service to its suites. It expects 900 guests will use the service in the current fiscal year.
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Married couples targeted
To expand their clientele, some hotels have introduced new services targeting married couples.
Hotel Okura in Minato Ward, for instance, offers free child care for married couples. Guests may use the hotel's day nursery without extra charge as part of a package priced between 30,000 yen and 40,000 yen per person, which covers accommodation and dinner.
The service will be available through the end of March.
Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku Ward also has launched a unique plan targeting married couples.
Under the plan, individual married couples pay a fee amounting to 10 times the year of their marriage. If a couple got married in 1973, for example, they pay 19,730 yen, which is much cheaper than the regular charge of 36,000 yen. The plan will be available through Nov. 24.
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Easy-to-use services
Business hotel chains are responding to the competition by reviewing room charges and services to improve their ease of use for customers.
In June, Toyoko Inn, a nationwide hotel chain, introduced a service in which guests may use telephones free of charge, with two telephones installed in each lobby of the group's 75 hotels. The phones allow guests to call anywhere in the country without charge.
"We introduced the service so that people on business trips can feel free to contact their companies and families after their arrival at the hotel," a public relations staffer of the hotel chain said.
Toyoko Inn guests also have free access to the Internet in their guestrooms.
Sunroute Co., another major hotel chain, offers discounts to couples if one of them is aged 55 or older. The discounts amount to a price cut of 40 percent to 70 percent compared with the regular charge.
Guests are asked to bring a health insurance certificate or driver's license to prove their age.
Japan Research Institute counselor Toshio Mori said it was very important for hotels to diversify their services.
"In Tokyo, competition is intensifying between areas, such as Marunouchi, Shinagawa, Akasaka and Roppongi, and Shinjuku. In order for hotels to survive the competition, they have to significantly diversify services to gain marquee status," he said. _________________ Michael_Voyageur
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