TOKYO: From bellboys and receptionists to chefs and concierges, hotel staff in Japan are likely to find they have more time to watch the Olympics than they ever expected.

       A fourth Covid emergency in Tokyo and a decision to bar spectators from the main athletics events have triggered a wave of hotel room cancellations.

       This latest setback puts further pressure on a hotel industry that bet big on the summer games serving as a springboard for Japan’s wider economic goal of attracting 40 million overseas visitors a year.

       While large hotel chains with deep cash reserves can pace themselves for the long run and a post-Covid upturn in fortunes, for smaller operators the pandemic-hit Olympic dream is already testing their business stamina as bankruptcies in the sector pick up.

       “We had big hopes and expectations for the Olympics,” said Makiko Furusato, who runs a tiny Japanese-style ryokan hotel within a 15-minute drive of four of the major venues for the games.

       “We opened in October 2019 and right away we got hit by the pandemic.

       “Now this, just as we were hoping to get some money coming in.”

       Furusato and her husband previously helped run a hotel in a resort town west of Tokyo.

       They saw the games as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relocate and start their own boutique inn.

       They picked their new neighbourhood specifically with the Olympics in mind.

       But instead of a hotel full of guests during the games, Furusato says she’s dealing with cancellations and competition from other hotels.

       These incidents have dropped prices to a third of the going rate during the Olympic period.

       The decision to bar spectators from the games could lead to more than a million cancelled reservations or plans to stay in hotels.

       That figure is based on 30% of ticket holders for the games coming from outside the greater Tokyo area, as indicated by Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto, and each of them planning to stay at least one night in a hotel.

       “This latest hit will very likely trigger more bankruptcies,” said economist Hideo Kumano at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.

       “And you can’t dismiss the impact on the national mood of making the Olympics spectator-less.”

       That hit to sentiment is at least partially behind the drop in support for the Suga government, with recent polls showing approval rates sinking to record lows. ― Bloomberg