Luxury hotels in Kyushu attract tourists

The popularity of luxury hotels in Kyushu is growing, with a growing concern that wealthy tourists will flock to Japan's main southern island.

Although pricey accommodations are operating in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture and others, expectations from the high-end services appear the greatest in Fukuoka Prefecture.

The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka, is the central hub of the Tenjin Big Bang redevelopment project in Fukuoka.

The hotel, located in the downtown Tenjin district, occupies the upper floors of the 111-meter-tall Fukuoka Daimyo Garden City complex.

It's the second Ritz-Carlton hotel in Kyushu, and the sixth in Japan, following Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Okinawa Prefecture, and Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture.

Ritz-Carlton is the leading brand of Marriott International Inc., a United States-based hotel firm that has 182 million members globally.

Room fees at Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka start at 100,000 yen a night, and a 188-square-meter suite costs at least 2.5 million yen.

The hotel features six restaurants, a swimming pool, spa, and gym and provides panoramic views of the Hakata Port and other locations far below.

The city is based on the hotel chain's reputation of offering services to a wide range of wealthy individuals and celebrities worldwide.

Takashima said that Osaka's winning bid to host the Group of 20 conference in 2019.

The main reason behind Fukuoka's failure to win the G-20 bid contest was a city's lack of upscale accommodations for world leaders and other top-ranking officials.

Now that the municipality has its 'weapon,' it's ramping up efforts to host incentive trips, international conferences, exhibitions and other large-scale events.

With the hope of attracting well-off travelers, the city of Fukuoka will join a tourism fair scheduled for December in France.

The city is planning to invite representatives of European and U.S. travel agencies to Fukuoka to encourage the development and promotion of tour packages.

Of the existing accommodation sites in Fukuoka, operators of existing facilities are putting out the red carpet for the would-be guests.

Other upmarket amenities have emerged in Kyushu, such as Hilton Nagasaki in November 2021 and Sheraton Kagoshima in May this year, but they are not as expensive as Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka.

In early 2024, Nagasaki Marriott Hotel is planning to open within a commercial complex beside JR Nagasaki Station.

It will be the first hotel operated by the Marriott brand under the new name of Kyushu Railway Co.

The rail operator already owns its own hotels.

regional policies, such as redevelopment plans in urban areas and the lowering of floor-area ratios, have driven the expansion of luxury hotels into Kyushu.

Companies are also seeing opportunities with a influx of tourists, particularly from Europe and the United States, into Kyushu.

A total of 5,11 million people visited Kyushu from abroad in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by the Kyushu District Transport Bureau.

More than 90 percent of visitors came from around Asia, including South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The tourism sector in Kyushu is expecting the number of tourists from the United States and Europe to increase.

's potential for growth,' said Reijiro Katayama, head of the Kyushu Economic Research Center's department for surveys and research.

Marriott's business operations director, Karl Hudson, said in a press conference at the hotel's opening in Fukuoka that he has noticed the relatively few sight-seekers in the city from Europe and the United States.

Marriott is planning to draw in more tourists from Europe and North America to Japan and will entice its member customers to visit Fukuoka.

Hudson said he expects Fukuoka's appealing cuisine and local attractions to improve the city's international profile.

The island has a relatively fewer tourist destinations than Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and other popular tourist spots.

However, Kyushu has more sightseeing trains, such as JR Kyushu's Nanatsuboshi luxury sleeper, than other regions.

Ochiai said he would not comment on the results of the talks.