Ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan's Tokyu Hotels has been rushing to expand its portfolio. Three new openings in 2018 will be followed by one in 2019 and another in 2020.
All three of 2018's hotels will be developed in Tokyo. The first, the 638-guestroom Tokyo Bay Tokyu Hotel, will be near the Tokyo Disney Resort. The second, the Kawasaki Tonomachi Tokyu REI Hotel, will be developed in King Skyfront near the Tokyo International Airport in Haneda and life science research and development facilities. The third property, Shibuya Stream Excel Hotel Tokyu, will be constructed in a mixed-use development with offices, a hall and a shopping center.
Tokyu Hotels' Excel Hotel Tokyu brand will enter Osaka's market in 2019 with its first property in Nanba Betsuin temple. The final hotel lined up by 2020, the Tokyu REI-branded hotel, will be developed in Yokohama.
Although Tokyu Hotels maintains a stronghold in Japan, the hotel group has planned to expand even further throughout the country and beyond, specifically through its partnership with Preferred Hotels & Resorts. “We will continue to grow our property portfolio in Japan. Popular travel routes to and from Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Osaka and Kyoto are (places) where we are aggressively trying (to establish a physical presence in),” Masato Iizuka, EVP of Tokyu Hotels, told TTG Asia. "Tokyu Hotels has developed a high level of brand awareness in Japan. However, we would also like to increase our brand’s reputation in the international marketplace.” The group operates four hotels branded with PHR— LVX Collection’s The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Kyoto Tokyu Hotel, Nagoya Tokyu Hotel and the Lifestyle Collection’s Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel—and an additional 15 properties represented by PHR as Travel Partners.
As the company gains global footing, Tokyu Hotels has remained aware that global brands aren't its only competitors. “Local hotel brands are very strong competitors in our current market (too). And don’t forget there’s also the rise of private accommodations acting as another fierce competitor in the industry," he added. The groups have already begun their first course of action: to host "numerous seminars and receptions in the various markets where PHR offices are located." One of the first of these seminars was held on Nov. 23, when Tokyu Hotels and PHR met with travel agents, major incentive planners and corporate bookers based in Singapore.