April 2026
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Inbound Booking Trends for May 2026: Regional ADR Uplift Driven by Western and Southeast Asian Travelers
In May, when the cherry blossom season has ended and the fresh greenery and outdoor activities reach their peak, inbound tourism to Japan continues to expand. In May 2024, 19 source markets recorded their highest-ever monthly arrivals for the month, followed by 21 markets in May 2025, indicating a structural normalization of record-breaking demand. This period has increasingly become established as a “regional dispersion season,” during which Western independent travelers and Southeast Asian visitors show a strong preference for regional destinations. This report analyzes booking trends for May 2026 and examines the structural uplift in Average Daily Rate (ADR) across regional resort prefectures such as Nagano, Yamanashi, and Oita, based on publicly available pricing data from Metro Engine Research and statistics from the Japan Tourism Agency and JNTO. Definition of Key Metrics ADR (Average Daily Rate): The average of publicly listed accommodation prices on OTAs. This differs from actual transaction prices. Figures are based on the total room rate (including tax) for double occupancy (two guests per room), averaged across all plan types, from room-only to meal-inclusive packages. Sold-Out Rate: The proportion of accommodation plans that were no longer available for booking on OTAs at the time of data collection....
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Summer Resort Comparison 2026: Niseko, Okinawa, and Karuizawa — ADR, Booking Pace, and FX Sensitivity
During the July–August 2026 summer booking season, ADR across three of Japan’s flagship resort regions — Niseko/Kutchan, Onna Village & Ishigaki, and Karuizawa — has risen sharply year over year. From the perspective of investors and affluent-market strategists, this report separates the demand drivers by destination and quantitatively analyzes revenue sensitivity under different foreign exchange scenarios.All prices in this report are standardized as room rates for one room with two guests, tax included.
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The Impact of Expo 2025 Osaka on Hotel ADR: An Analysis Using REIT and OTA Data
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, held from April 13 to October 13, 2025, attracted approximately 28.2 million visitors. As a result, the hotel market across the Kansai region experienced a sharp increase in accommodation demand. However, as of April 2026, six months after the Expo closed, year-on-year declines in ADR, or average daily rate, have become increasingly visible across Kansai. Does this decline indicate a deterioration in the market? Or is it simply a normalization from the unusually high levels created by the special event effect of the Expo? This article examines that question using monthly operating data from seven listed hotel REITs and publicly available OTA rate data covering approximately 2,600 hotels in the Kansai region. It also considers how hotel operators and investors should interpret year-on-year performance heading into the second half of 2026. Data Used in the Analysis This analysis combines two different types of data to examine the market from multiple perspectives. Data Source Content Coverage Characteristics Hotel REIT monthly operating data Property-level ADR, occupancy, and RevPAR disclosed monthly by seven hotel REITs: Ichigo Hotel REIT, Invincible Investment Corporation, Japan Hotel & Residential Investment Corporation, Japan Hotel REIT, Hoshino Resorts REIT, Mori Trust REIT, and Kasumigaseki...
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JNTO: 3,597,500 Foreign Visitors to Japan in January 2026, Down 4.9% YoY, While South Korea Surpasses 1.1 Million for a Monthly Record
(Source: JNTO) According to estimates released by the Japan National Tourism Organization on Tuesday, March 18, 2026, the number of international visitors to Japan in February 2026 reached 3,466,700, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.4%. This marked a record high for the month of February and maintained a high level exceeding 3 million visitors. Compared to the previous month, January 2026 (3,597,500 visitors), the figure decreased by 130,800. While January 2026 saw a year-on-year decline of 4.9%, February recorded an increase.