Kyoto hotel guests reach record high in 2018
US-based Travel + Leisure magazine has ranked Kyoto as one of the top 10 World’s Best Cities for the past seven years, so it is no wonder that in 2018 the number of hotel guests in Kyoto reached the highest number in history. The historic city welcomed 15.82 million hotel guests, up 1.6% from 2017 and the second year in a row to exceed 15 million.
Kyoto’s office shortage is getting dire
Kyoto’s shortage of office space is becoming critical as vacancy rates drop below 1%. With a booming tourist industry, developers have been focusing on building hotels, leaving very little supply of new offices.
150+ year old tea house discovered in Kyoto backyard
A tea house that once belonged to Okubo Toshimichi (1830-1878) has narrowly escaped demolition in Kyoto. The owner has temporarily suspended demolition while the tea house is carefully dismantled and stored. Due to its historical significance, Kyoto City is considering potential ways to relocate and reconstruct it.
Holiday home buyers drawn to Kyoto
Kyoto City is fast becoming a hotspot for out-of-towners buying holiday homes.
Heritage-listed merchant house in Kyoto up for sale
The heritage-listed Watanabe Residence in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture, is listed for sale for 25,800,000 Yen (approx. 235,000 USD), leaving locals concerned about its fate. The 150-year old merchant house is registered as a Tangible Cultural Property.
Kyoto hotels outperform Osaka in 2018
In 2018, the Kansai area was struck by an earthquake in June and typhoon Jebi in September. Although the effects of these two events had very little impact on Kyoto’s tourism industry, they did affect Osaka which saw a drop in visitor arrivals from other Asian countries. STR’s Global Hotel Study for 2018 reported a 7.7% drop in the room revenue index for Osaka, while Kyoto saw a milder 0.2% decrease.
Given that these two cities are only 13 minutes apart by bullet train, why did Kyoto perform better than neighboring Osaka?
Kyoto may have no surviving machiya townhouses by 2066
Kyoto’s traditional merchant townhouses (machiya, or kyo-machiya) form an integral part of the historic city’s charming streetscapes and culture, yet are being demolished at a shockingly fast pace.