Hotel Users in Japan Over 70 Pct of Pre-Pandemic Level

Tokyo, Feb. 28 (Jiji Press)--The number of people who stayed at hotels and "ryokan" Japanese-style inns in Japan in 2022 reached over 70 pct of the level in 2019, before the pandemic, preliminary government data showed Tuesday.

A cumulative total of 453.97 million people stayed at such accommodation facilities last year, up by 42.9 pct from 2021, according to the accommodation statistics of the Japan Tourism Agency.

The government's nationwide travel discount campaign, which began last October, is seen to have contributed to the growth.

Of the 2022 total of hotel and ryokan users, the number of Japanese people dropped 9.0 pct from 2019 to 437.21 million, while that of foreigners fell 85.5 pct to 16.76 million.

Compared with 2021, however, the number of foreigners shot up nearly fourfold thanks to the easing of the government's border control measures last year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]