Profitable for 50 consecutive years! APA Hotel President Fumiko Motoya: “When your rivals are floundering, that’s the time to be courageous!

In the 50 years since the group was founded, “We have never made a single loss.

In a corner of the president’s office, which was decorated with a calligraphy written by Sota Fujii (22) and a painting depicting former yokozuna Rarezuri (38), the female president of the hotel chain that boasts the largest number of rooms in Japan, began to speak in a powerful tone of voice.

I’ve been so busy recently that I haven’t had time to think about the commemorative project for the hotel’s 40th anniversary. Last year, I even forgot to celebrate my own happy birthday. I guess it can’t be helped.”

In the 50 years since the group was founded, APA Hotel has grown into one of Japan’s leading hotel chains in a single generation. The president of the company is Fumiko Motoya. She has been actively appearing in the media and commercials in flamboyant fashions reminiscent of medieval aristocrats and royal families, and has raised the profile of the hotel. President Motoya describes herself as “a billboard.

APA has continued to expand aggressively in the COVID-19 crisis, and now has more than 128,000 rooms in its network. In the fiscal year ended November 2012, the company recorded sales of 220 billion yen and recurring income of 70 billion yen, which are unprecedented for the hotel industry. These figures alone are astounding enough, but what is even more astounding is that the group has “never posted a loss” in the more than 50 years since its founding.

The group has been able to achieve a high profit margin of more than 30% thanks to its integrated building management, operation, and brand strategy. Thanks to this, we are ranked 19th in the world’s hotel rating rankings, which include foreign luxury brands.

APA opened its first hotel in Kanazawa in 1984. It was a latecomer to the hotel chain. How did the company achieve such rapid growth?

In a word, originality. We couldn’t win by copying other hotels, so we took a cue from what other industries were doing. We paid particular attention to the airline industry. The introduction of a membership card with a cash-back function was also inspired by the airline industry. We also adopted a variable pricing system and invested in the development of a price analysis system when we learned that rather than flying passenger planes with empty seats, they prioritize raising occupancy rates even at reduced prices.

Today, the hotel industry is booming thanks to inbound demand, but looking back over the past 40 years, there have been a number of major crises, including the bursting of the bubble economy and the Lehman Shock. Naturally, APA also faced headwinds, but each time it successfully overcame them.

In the January 10 issue of “FRIDAY January 24/31” and the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” President Motoya revealed the many hardships he overcame to achieve the growth of APA Hotel, as well as his own management philosophy, with some secret stories. He also provides a detailed analysis of the future of the Japanese economy in 2013.

For more details and multiple photos, click here.

From the January 24/31, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY