Japan Tourism
When A Warm Welcome Isn’t Enough
What Japanese Expect From Their Travel Experience
TOKYO — Can island hospitality alone cut it?
The introduction last year of Japan Airlines’ direct charter flights from Tokyo to the Marshall Islands put that country’s tourism sector at a crossroads. Turn right, and the industry flourishes. Turn left and it self-destructs.
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Just ask a Pacific Islander who trains Japanese and foreign staff in the fine art of hospitality at one of Tokyo’s finest hotels. Ruby Ah Yuk, a Fiji national who has been living in Japan for 13 years, oversees training of all new staff as Learning Manager at the Four Seasons Hotel at Chinzan-so in a leafy Tokyo neighborhood. She’s worked for the Four Seasons at Chinzanso for the past eight years.
The Four Seasons brand is one of the world’s top luxury hotel chains, and it shows at Ah Yuk’s property. From the uniformed doormen and women who welcome each guest to the ornate interior design and huge Japanese garden, this is a world of high prices (rooms start at about $500 a night and go up to $5,000 for the biggest suite) and even higher guest expectations. Three quarters of The Four Seasons at Chinzan-so’s guests are Japanese.
“Japanese are critical when it comes to service,” said Ah Yuk. “But they will never say it to your face.”
She says a Japanese guest will never tell you what you are doing wrong and even if dissatisfied, they will accept what you offer only to save face. But that doesn’t mean they’re happy about the experience.
Just as Japanese pay close attention to every detail, if you want to get and keep their travel business, you need to pay close attention to those details, too. In the hospitality industry, those include:
• Staff who can speak Japanese;
• Providing efficient service;
• High quality Japanese food on the menu; and
• Clean facilities.
“When Japanese go on vacation they want a quality experience,” said Ah Yuk
And, while there is truth that islanders are inherently hospitable. AhYuk says Pacific-style hospitality isn’t enough.
“Japanese want the best quality of service,” said Ah Yuk. “It’s all about efficiency.”
There’s hospitality and then there’s “Hospitality.” Ah Yuk always refers to her profession as “hospitality,” not tourism. Our visitor industry needs to decide how it can meet the high expectations of our Japanese guests.
