JAPAN

Airbnb users face summer crunch as Japan seeks delisting of unlicensed lodgings

Since last week, many property owners and guests who booked rooms through Airbnb have been surprised to find that thousands of previously listed lodgings, which had not obtained licenses to operate, have been delisted from Airbnb's website. | REUTERS

By Cory Baird
Staff Writer

Jun 7, 2018

You may want to make your hotel reservations a little earlier this summer.

That's according to Sho Soma, a specialist in Japan's minpaku (private lodgings services) market, who predicts that the recent suspension of tens of thousands of Airbnb listings may leave visitors with fewer options for lodgings over the busy summer tourist season.

"July is usually around the time when hotels are full for reservations, but because almost 40,000 Airbnb listings cannot operate, there is a good chance that hotel rooms will be filled earlier in the summer," said Soma, an employee at Recreator, which operates a website specializing in minpaku.

Airbnb users face summer crunch as Japan seeks delisting of unlicensed lodgings

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