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GLOBAL HOTEL NETWORK (SM) REPORT: This week`s Market Focus Tokyo, Japan

Hotel Booking Scott Hetherington, Executive Vice President, Asia and Tomohiko Sawayanagi, Senior Vice President, Tokyo, together with Jaime Ng, Associate, Asia from Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels report.

Groople (www.groople.com), the leader in group travel planning, has partnered with Go10000, a travel focused development and hosting firm, to bring to market a new group collaboration site for the travel space. GroopVine will provide the solution to the complex communication and booking problems group travel planning can create. Enhancing the online travel space by combining the key elements of social networking such as invitations, forums, messaging, photos and video posting, with the best in online travel booking, GroopVine is the only place for group travelers to shop, plan and book together online.

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"We integrated the use of the customer's email client with our group travel planning and booking tools, providing an easy way to network with other group members, " said Stacy. Each group receives a personalized Web page with hotel options, amenities, and destination information. Taking advantage of Microsoft's .net platform and social networking technology group members can discuss which hotels best suit their needs as well as alternate destination options and desired trip activities.

Cheap Hotel RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS OF THE TOKYO MARKET SHOWS: * Recovery Of The Japanese Economy Is Underway Albeit Underpowered In 2000-01. * International Visitor Arrivals To Tokyo Improve. * Hotel Supply In Tokyo Show Upward Trend. * Growth In Hotel Supply Concentrated Within Four To Five Star Segments. * Tokyo Four To Five Star Hotel Market Showed Highest Room Yields in 1999. * Five Star Hotels Sustain Room Yields In 2000. * Competition To Intensify Between Japanese And Foreign Operated Hotels. * Foreign Investors Continue To View Tokyo Favorably, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Investor Sentiment Survey September 2000. * Outlook For Trading Performance And Investment Is Expected To Trend Upward.

8mong many firsts for the group market, the new technology platform enables consumers to do something that other sites haven k allowed to book travel and accommodations for more than five rooms in a single online session. Featuring more than 56, 000 hotels, including 7, time group rates, Groople is primed to become the industry largest automated solution for unmanaged group leisure travel, a market estimated at $18 billion to $24 billion. Under its hosted inventory and commission models, Groople generates group bookings niche by niche for hotels and plans to add air, car, cruise, bus and rail later this year.

Flight Booking Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels plans to expand its team in Tokyo in anticipation of more active acquisition and development activities over the medium to long term. A more in-depth market report on Tokyo follows.

Coinlockerbaby gets our Thorn Tree Post of the Day vote for doing that hard slog and gathering up some insider tips on Tokyo's quirkier, less publicised attractions. Read his detailed report and other community contributions here. (We thought you may also like to check out the latest photo feature on Japan below). Click to view photo gallery World Guide Japan, Tokyo Encounter Guide in the Shop, Bluelists about Japan, Videos on Japan.

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For some time, however, visiting in Japan has been dogged by potential access problems which, it seems, now have to be addressed. The Japan Times reports that the authorities in Tokyo are struggling with how to cope with demands for fuller access to Japan's historic gardens, access that would risk altering their original layouts and features. run gardens on which attention is focused together had nearly one and a half million visitors in 1999.

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