15 Hotel Operators in Tokyo Warned over Possible Price-Fixing

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Fair Trade Commission warned 15 luxury hotel operators in Tokyo on Thursday that their practice of exchanging information about room prices and other matters could amount to price-fixing conspiracy that violates the antimonopoly law.

The FTC said that it issued the warning to have the hotel operators correct the practice as soon as possible rather than proceeding with its investigation as hotel fees in the Japanese capital have risen sharply due to a surge in the number of foreign visitors following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.

The 15 hotel operators include Imperial Hotel Ltd., New Otani Co., Keio Plaza Hotel Co., Hotel Okura Tokyo Co., Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide Inc. and Fujita Kanko Inc.

Officials from the 15 companies had met once a month to exchange information about room occupancy rates, average room prices and room reservations, according to the FTC.

The information was shared in a common format so that the degree of fluctuations could be easily understood. The meeting started several years ago and continued until around autumn last year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]