Japan's antimonopoly watchdog has warned 15 major hotel operators that their long-time practice of sharing room pricing and other internal information could be regarded as illegal price fixing under a cartel in violation of the Antimonopoly Law.



The Fair Trade Commission issued the warning on Thursday to 15 operators of major hotels, including Hotel New Otani Tokyo, Imperial Hotel Tokyo, and The Okura Tokyo.



The FTC says that for years, their sales representatives took turns hosting monthly meetings where they shared internal information, such as room occupancy rates, average room rates, and future plans for setting rates.



The FTC says it has not confirmed any cases in which the 15 hotels raised their room rates simultaneously. However, the FTC has determined that some of the 15 hotels used the information gained from the other hotels as a basis for setting their own room rates.



The FTC has issued a warning to the hotel operators, telling them that their practice of sharing information could lead to illegal cartels and unfair price-fixing.



The 15 hotel operators say they stopped holding information sharing meetings in the fall of 2024.



Tokyo has seen hotel rates surge in recent years, due in part to the increasing number of foreign visitors following the end of the pandemic.



An FTC official said at a news conference on Thursday that the hotel industry must recognize the gravity of the problem, in which some of the best and leading hotels in Tokyo were involved in the act of information sharing that could be in violation of the Antimonopoly Law.



The FTC says it is concerned that a similar practice of information sharing may also be taking place among hotels that operate outside Tokyo.



The FTC instructed two national hotel industry groups to make doubly sure that their member hotels abide by the Antimonopoly Law.



In response, the operators of Hotel New Otani Tokyo and Imperial Hotel Tokyo said they take the FTC's warning seriously, and will step up their efforts to comply with the law.