TOKYO -- Hoshino Resorts will finance the revival and modernization of hotels and inns through a fund it is creating with the government-affiliated Development Bank of Japan, growing its network and helping ease an emerging shortage of lodging as tourist traffic from overseas booms.
Hoshino and the DBJ will contribute equally to a 2 billion yen ($16.1 million) fund to be established by the end of December, the hotelier said Wednesday. Targets for investment and financing will include cash-strapped facilities that have fallen into disrepair, as well as hotels and inns whose owners cannot find suitable successors. The fund operators anticipate putting several hundred million yen into each property. The duo will recruit other investors and "expand the fund going forward," Hoshino CEO Yoshiharu Hoshino said.
