December 13, 2022. Hokkaido Newspaper.
Tokyu Land Corporation acquires the Hotel Niseko Alpen site for 3.5 billion yen from Kutchan Town, which is 36% of Kutchan Town’s budget. Tokyu Land Corporation, based in Tokyo, has decided to purchase for 3.553 billion yen approximately 9,800 square meters of land owned by the town in the Hirafu ski resort area, which had been leased as the site of the Hotel Niseko Alpen. Kutchan Town will soon sign a contract with Tokyu Land Corporation and the company will begin a large-scale renovation of the hotel, which is scheduled to start by spring 2023. Kutchan Town will submit a related bill to the regular town assembly on December 15, and it is expected to be approved. In October, Tokyu Land Corporation announced that it will build a new gondola in 2024 at the Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu Ski Resort, which is adjacent to the Hotel Niseko Alpen. The acquisition of the hotel property site, which the company had approached Kutchan Town about a few years ago, and the planned large-scale renovations of the hotel underscore the company's strategy to improve and strengthen the ski resort. The current hotel, which opened in 1986, has 125 rooms and covers four floors above ground and two floors below ground. In anticipation of the resolution of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Hotel Niseko Alpen will be closed for a year from April 2023. Tokyu Land Corporation will focus on improving the hotel’s facilities. The planned construction period may change depending on the details of the renovation plans for the hotel. Several years ago, Tokyu Land Corporation considered acquiring the approximately 8,800 square meters of town-owned land on the hotel site. Kutchan Town had indicated an appraisal value of approximately 2.8 billion yen, but Tokyu Land Corporation abandoned the plan due to the outbreak of the Covid19 train wreck. This time, the purchase price exceeded the expected acquisition price due to the increase in land prices around the ski resort and an increase in the area to be acquired in anticipation of the ski resort's growth. For Kutchan Town, this is a large amount of extraordinary income, equivalent to 36% of the initial general account budget of 9.864 billion yen for the current fiscal year. Kutchan Town plans to set aside this nonrecurring income amount in a special fund.
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December 11, 2022. Hokkaido Newspaper.
Ski resorts in Hokkaido are raising lift ticket prices one after another due to soaring fuel costs. A number of ski resorts in Hokkaido are raising lift ticket prices in response to soaring utility and fuel costs. Some ski resorts are making the difficult decision to raise ticket prices to cover costs fully aware that some skiers will turn away from skiing as the price rises, but other ski resorts are strategically raising lift ticket prices in anticipation of a recovery in the number of overseas visitors, which has declined in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic. Will the price hikes support profits or have a negative impact on the number of visitors? With the start of the full-fledged ski season approaching, those in the industry are keeping a close eye on the trends among skiers. Rusutsu Resort raised the price of lift tickets by 35% to 8,800 yen, becoming the highest price ski resort in Japan. Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort, based in Sapporo, set the price of a one-day adult ski pass at 4,800 yen, about 4% higher than the previous year. A company spokesperson said that, “Electricity, oil, labor costs, everything is expensive this winter. Management efforts alone are not enough to cover the cost increase and a minimum lift ticket price increase was unavoidable.” Sapporo Teine Ski Resort also raised its lift ticket prices by about 4%. Moiwa Yama Ski Resort, also based in Sapporo, raised the price of 7-hour tickets by about 8% compared to the previous year. Mr. Ueda, President of Rinyu Kanko, which operates the ski resort, said, “Ski resorts need to keep the lifts running and the lights on, and it is difficult to cut fixed costs in this type of business. This year, the electricity bill alone is expected to cost 30-40% more than the previous year, so the impact will be significant.” People in the ski industry are concerned that the price hike will accelerate the shift of guests away from skiing. According to the Hokkaido Cableway Association, the number of skiers in Hokkaido has been declining year by year since the economic bubble peaked around 1987. During the 2020-2021 season, which was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the number of lift passengers decreased by about 40% compared to before the pandemic. Although a recovery is expected this season, Mr. Ueda is worried saying. “I hope the hike in lift ticket prices won't act as a brake on the recovery of guests to Hokkaido ski resorts.” On the other hand, ski resorts that expect an increase in overseas skiers due to the easing of Japanese Immigration restrictions have taken the bold step of raising prices. Rusutsu Resort, based in the Shiribeshi area, set the price of a one-day pass at 8,800 yen, 35% higher than the previous year and making it the highest price among all ski resorts in Japan. “Hotel reservations are back to 95% of what they were before the pandemic. The lift ticket price increase is a strategy focused on overseas customers, and our price range still seems low compared to European and American ski resorts,” a spokesperson for Rusutsu Resort revealed. For local customers and long-stay visitors, Rusutsu Resort will offer discounted hourly tickets, which can be used in one-hour increments, to reduce the financial burden on these guests. The aim is to raise the price per customer, especially for overseas customers, and use the revenue to invest in facilities and equipment. One of the factors behind the successive price hikes is that many ski resorts made large capital investments during the 1980’s bubble period and need to renew aging lifts and other equipment. A ski resort manager in Hokkaido predicts that, “Large ski resorts that can attract skiers from overseas will continue to raise prices due to the renewal of facilities and new construction. The Hokkaido ski resort customer base will probably become clearly divided between small and medium-sized ski resorts that cater mainly to local customers and large ski resorts that cater to overseas guests.” The reaction of skiers to the series of price hikes is divided. Mr. Nitta, 35, who returned home from Tokyo and visited Sapporo Teine Ski Resort with his family of four on December 9, said, “It feels a little expensive compared to ski resorts in the Kanto region. I would like it to be as cheap as possible.” Mr. Okubo, 32, who lives in Sapporo, expressed his understanding, saying, “While the prices of most things are going up, it is to be expected that prices at ski resorts are going up too.” |
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