Japanese Government Helping To Spur Hotel Development

<B>Japanese Government Helping To Spur Hotel Development</B>

By Judy Jacobs

Little hotel development has taken place in Tokyo during the past decade due largely to the country's long-lasting recession, but soon this will change. Several projects are planned, and the Japanese government is taking actions that eventually may draw more international business travelers to the country.

"With the current deregulation move within the finance, technology and telecommunications industries on the part of the Japanese government many companies in these fields are setting up offices in Tokyo to conduct research and investigate the Japanese market," said Marina Bullivant, spokeswoman for Hyatt Asia/Pacific. "If this deregulation continues to other commercial sectors, it will have a major impact on business travel to the city."

Regardless of what the Japanese government does, however, several hotel companies are busy planning new properties or expansions. Hyatt will open the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in April 2003, as part of the Roppongi Hills project. Roppongi, Tokyo's most international neighborhood, is a place popular with expatriates and known for its foreign restaurants and clubs. "Roppongi Hills is the largest private urban redevelopment project in Japan and can be considered the world's most extensive mixed-use complex," Bullivant said. "It includes a 54-story office tower, a television broadcasting center, a multipurpose theater, the Mori Art Center and 200 retail shops, restaurants and open-air cafes."

The 394-room Grand Hyatt Tokyo is expected to appeal to business travelers. Guest rooms will be connected to a fiber optic network for high-speed Internet access, and any tech problems will be handled by a 24-hour technology concierge. Meeting facilities include a grand ballroom, seating 800 for banquets, four junior ballrooms and 10 additional function rooms. The hotel will be the company's second Grand Hyatt in Japan--the other is in Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu.

While Hyatt's plans are underway, Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels has signed an agreement with Japan's Mitsubishi Estate Co. to do a feasibility study on developing a 300-room Peninsula hotel in Tokyo's central Marunouchi district. The hotel will replace the Hibiya Park Building and be part of a Marunouchi redevelopment project that will involve five or six buildings. Marunouchi is located in the heart of the city's business and financial district and borders the Ginza and the Imperial Palace. Tokyo Station, Tokyo's main railway hub, serves as the transportation gateway to the district.

Meanwhile, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in southern Tokyo is adding a 672-room tower, scheduled to be completed next spring, which will make it the largest hotel in Tokyo. "The new building--we don't have a name for it yet--will be targeted to business travelers," said Toshie Nakabayashi, vice president of sales and marketing for Prince Marketing Corp. "The rooms will have just one bed each and all of them will have Internet connection. Our hotel is also more economical than some others, so with the recession it should appeal to companies that have had to cut their budgets.