According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the number of registered short-term ‘minpaku’ rentals nationwide has dropped from a peak of 21,385 in April 2020 to 19,520 as of March 2021.

With no inbound tourists and a ban on international spectators for the Summer Olympics, the likelihood of hosts seeing a high payoff during the games seems a distant dream. Almost half of the respondents to a survey by the Agency last Autumn said they closed due to a lack of anticipated revenue. In 2019, only 7% of hosts cited this as a reason for deregistering their properties.

The Japan Association of Private Accommodations said Airbnb-type rentals in city areas tend to rely heavily on foreign tourists, and those hosts are suffering from the inbound tourism ban. Some have converted their rooms into telework office spaces, while others have returned them to the long-term rental market. In each case, expected rental revenues are lower than what they were achieving pre-pandemic.

The number of registered properties started to decline from May 2020, and is likely to continue through 2021 as travel bans remain in effect.

Source: Jiji Press, April 15, 2021.

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