Cartel Suspicion: Hotel Industry Practices Inviting Distrust
The Japan Fair Trade Commission has issued warnings to 15 operators of hotels in Tokyo, urging them to prevent a recurrence of the practice of exchanging information on such matters as room rates, saying it could possibly constitute an “unreasonable restraint of trade,” violating the Antimonopoly Law.
Companies that were the target of the warnings included the operators of well-known hotels such as the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo and The Okura Tokyo. Representatives from each company reportedly held monthly meetings to exchange internal information such as room occupancy rates, average prices, reservations and pricing plans.
The commission ultimately concluded that it could not confirm any price gouging practices, but it said some hotels explained during the investigation that they had used information from other companies as a reference for setting room rates.
Such information exchange within the hotel industry could be construed by consumers as contributing to the rise in accommodation prices. This practice is said to have been going on for decades. The companies should take the JFTC’s warning seriously.