Japanese hotels, taxi firms seek staff after reopening

Japan’s transport and hospitality industries are struggling to find enough staff to keep up with a rebound in demand, with the number of visitors more than doubling after borders reopened a month ago.

The number of people working at hotels and inns is 30 percent below the levels from before the COVID-19 pandemic started, Japan Accommodation and Lodging Foundation data showed, while airlines and tour bus operators are reporting full bookings.

Japan’s struggles mirror what the US and Europe saw over the summer, when a rebound in travelers overwhelmed airports and travel businesses that had cut back on staffing.

Although Japan did not go into full lockdown, the job market was already tight and people found other readily available work.

Now, with the borders fully open to people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 since Oct. 11, the nation is poised for a tourism boom, thanks to strong demand and a weaker yen, which is making it more affordable to visit the country.

“It’s going to be difficult to catch taxis if overseas visitors return to pre-coronavirus levels,” said Kazuki Otsuka, chief executive officer of Daiwa Motor Transportation Co, one of the country’s largest taxi and limousine operators.

About 498,600 overseas travelers visited Japan last month, preliminary figures released yesterday by the Japan National Tourism Organization showed.

That is more than double from the prior month and 24 times last year’s monthly average.

The reported figure still pales in comparison with the record 32 million inbound visitors Japan had during the peak of a tourism boom in 2019.

This year, 1.52 million foreign visitors have arrived, a far cry from the record 31.8 million in 2019.

There were already signs of an uptick, even before last month’s reopening.

Spending on foreign travel, defined as spending on goods and services by non-residents during visits, rose 51 percent in September to ￥63.9 billion (US$459 million) from a year earlier, balance of payments data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance showed.

ANA Holdings Inc, which seconded staff to other industries as the carrier cut back on flights, is now recalling them as it adds back routes.

Flights to Narita from Hong Kong have been almost fully booked since Oct. 11, a spokesperson for the airline said.

“Tour agencies are flooding us with reservations and our schedule is filling up this year and the next two years,” said Shinji Ohgami, an executive officer at Ryobi Holdings Co, which operates 700 buses nationwide and has 8,500 employees.

The industry is seeing only 3 drivers for every 20 buses, Ohgami said.

Tabist, a company backed by Softbank Group Corp and India’s OYO Hotels that manages hotels, expects inbound demand for its properties increasing to 1.5 million tourists from hundreds of thousands currently, even without visitors from China, where travel in and out of the country remains restricted.

“Our industry reduced all management resources, including people, goods and money, for the past two-and-a-half years,” Tabist president Ryota Tanozaki said.

Daiwa Motor is looking to add more drivers, including college graduates and mid-career hires, Otsuka said.

To attract staff, the taxi company is redesigning its uniforms and promoting a program that lets employees to earn MBAs at the company’s expense.

“We have no choice but to work hard and persevere,” Otsuka said.