The latest Japan Tourism Agency’s survey reveals that 12.4% of all international visitors stayed in private accommodations or ‘minpaku’ during the third quarter of 2017 (July to September 2017). The average ratio was 14.9% in the case of leisure travel, particularly high for visitors from Singapore (39.5%), France (35.9%) and Indonesia (29.7%).
The graph below shows the use of different lodging types by international visitors:
By country or region: The French travelers were the most frequent private accommodation users (28.6%) regardless of purpose, followed by Singaporean travelers (23.5%).
By age: The ratios of private accommodation users were 61.3% for travelers in their 20s (or younger), 32.8% for travelers in their 30s or 40s and 6.0% for travelers in their 50s (or older). Comparing these to the ratios of non-private accommodation users (39.7% for 20s or younger, 40.3% for 30s and 40s and 12.0% for 50s or older), the survey shows that private accommodations are mainly preferred by young generations.
By prefecture: Osaka had the highest ratio of private accommodation users (63.7%), followed by Kyoto (48.9%) and Tokyo (40.2%).
The graph below shows the ratios of private accommodation users by country or region:
The travel spending by a private accommodation user amounted to 19,125 JPY a night, about 7,000 JPY less than the 26,315 JPY spent by a non-private accommodation user. The average accommodation cost was 4,909 JPY for a private accommodation user, about 2,500 JPY less than the 7,584 JPY of a non-private accommodation user. Regarding the expenses for food and drinks, a private accommodation user paid 4,161 JPY a day while a non-private accommodation user paid 4,490 JPY a day. Regarding shopping, a private accommodation user spent 6,960 JPY while a non-private accommodation user spent 9,385 JPY.
The average number of nights of a private accommodation user was 7.6, longer than the 5.9 nights of a non-private accommodation user.
Japan Tourism Agency conducted this survey to understand the lodging trends of international visitors beyond the usual hotels and "ryokan" traditional inns because the ratio of travelers in the category "other accommodations" rose from 1.9% in the first quarter of 2015 to 15.4% in the second quarter of 2017. The choice "private accommodations" was added to the quarterly survey during the third quarter of 2017 based on input from international visitors.
