Foreign Hotels Raise Bar in Japan
Customer service is a Japanese specialty, but when it comes to high-end hotels, it's the outsiders that earn most of the highest marks
by Ian Rowley
/Article summary/
Japan is famous about its beautiful temples, fantastic food and culture. Besides these things it attracts first time visitors by its unique services. It is not surprising 8 million visitors every year wondering about services in Japan when they go home and can not find same services in their own country. Whether it is convenience store, gas station, ticket collector they threat them like a king. Even when it comes to high class foreign managed hotel it is same as well and higher. Customer survey in January found that Ritz Carlton is most popular hotel in Tokyo and Osaka which owned by foreigners. Oriental is most expensive six star hotel which opened in 2005 with rooms starting at $780 per night. Other recent hotels are Conrad Tokyo with 314 rooms and Shangri – La in Tokyo.
It is noticeable that Ritz Carlton hotel located in the area of a huge shopping and art complex and Tokyo’s tallest building. Staffs are polite and attentive as you expect in Japan and trained to be more different than traditional Japanese hotels. Also it offers excellent food. Its Dutch general manger Ricco DeBlank always checks all details before the hotel starts because 70% of Japanese customers appreciate small details and send dozens of letters even some of them 14 pages long with photos.
Customer service is a Japanese specialty, but when it comes to high-end hotels, it's the outsiders that earn most of the highest marks
by Ian Rowley
/Article summary/
Japan is famous about its beautiful temples, fantastic food and culture. Besides these things it attracts first time visitors by its unique services. It is not surprising 8 million visitors every year wondering about services in Japan when they go home and can not find same services in their own country. Whether it is convenience store, gas station, ticket collector they threat them like a king. Even when it comes to high class foreign managed hotel it is same as well and higher. Customer survey in January found that Ritz Carlton is most popular hotel in Tokyo and Osaka which owned by foreigners. Oriental is most expensive six star hotel which opened in 2005 with rooms starting at $780 per night. Other recent hotels are Conrad Tokyo with 314 rooms and Shangri – La in Tokyo.
It is noticeable that Ritz Carlton hotel located in the area of a huge shopping and art complex and Tokyo’s tallest building. Staffs are polite and attentive as you expect in Japan and trained to be more different than traditional Japanese hotels. Also it offers excellent food. Its Dutch general manger Ricco DeBlank always checks all details before the hotel starts because 70% of Japanese customers appreciate small details and send dozens of letters even some of them 14 pages long with photos.
As competition is rising newcomers have to work harder to please customers because some initial new openings die down. At the Peninsula visitors appreciate the new technology the hotel has added to its rooms: including humidifier installed in the air conditioning system, portable phone and nail- polish dryer. Despite new rivals local hotels don’t appear suffered. Imperial Hotel, Hotel Okura and the New Otani Hotel have seen increase of room rates.
Foreigner owned hotels creating a lot of media attention because they focus on small group of wealthy clients but some of them consider wide range of customers. Those hotels have 800 to 1500 rooms each for conference guests or large weddings. At the Imperial guests can choose from 7 types of pillows and air purifiers will be offered which churning out negative ions.
Opinion
Opinion
From this article I understood why those foreign managed and owned companies are successful and earning more. In my opinion the reason is they rightly captured motives that are making target to choose services they offer. Their main target is not wide range of people but little group of wealthy people who always want to experience, taste and see different things so those hotels differentiated their services from traditional Japanese hotels by using advanced technology, offering unique food, training educating their employees and choosing most suitable locations in the shopping and art complex area which gives opportunity to customers approach places easily and save time. Therefore they understood customer’s attitude. If see statistics 70% of Japanese customers take note of everything even details so hotels are considering also every details of their services before everyday to open. It is becoming more competitive to please customers to new comers in hotel industry and to attract loyal customers of those hotels.
Customers are kings.
Customers are kings.
Reference:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb20080418_590120.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business
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