The 2026 Asian Games will bring more than 15,000 athletes to Nagoya for close to 500 medal events. Before a single spectator has booked a room, that alone has lifted the local hospitality market.
The extra demand has pushed Nagoya to its highest prices of the year, making the city a clear outperformer in what has otherwise been a down year for accommodation in Japan.
Key takeaways
-
The 2026 Asian Games (September 19 to October 4) are the highest-priced period of the year for Nagoya accommodation.
-
Average standard hotel room rates for the week starting September 21 have reached JPY 48,399, 123% above Nagoya’s 2026 annual average.
-
Short-term rental rates peak at $268 in the same week, 59% above the annual average, with occupancy reaching 87.8% on September 20.
-
Athlete and official accommodation has removed much of the public inventory, so prices are rising faster than demand. Opening ceremony demand is up just 1% year on year.
-
Nagoya hotel prices are up 2% in 2026 while Japan is down 4%, with the Japanese Grand Prix and the Asian Games anchoring the city’s resilience.
When do hotel prices peak during the Asian Games?
Daily rates for a standard double-bed hotel room for the week starting September 21 have reached JPY 48,399 on average at the time of writing, with just over three weeks to go.
The Games begin on September 19 and end on October 4, so this peak week comes early on, and reflects the popularity of events in the schedule.
The biggest events from an attendance perspective fall within this week, with baseball being held between September 21 and 27, which is a favorite in Japan and South Korea, as well as gymnastics and athletics largely occurring within this week.
Rates in the surrounding weeks are also elevated, averaging JPY 40,095 for the week starting September 14 and JPY 37,767 for the week starting September 28.
The peak week sits 123% above Nagoya’s 2026 annual average and 99% above the four weeks before the Games begin.
Short-term rental prices have risen less sharply, but the peak of $268 for the week starting September 21 is still 59% above the annual average, 67% higher than the previous four weeks, and the highest point of the year.
Athlete accommodation leaves public hotel and short-term rental inventory at a premium
A big driver of the price rise is how much inventory has been locked away for athletes, officials and trainers. So much was reserved so quickly that host organizers had to request a reduction in delegation sizes over concerns about accommodation capacity.
That leaves limited inventory for the public, pushing rates up sharply even though demand hasn’t spiked to the same degree.
Demand is strongly elevated in our daily index, and the Games are the strongest period of sustained demand in the whole year. But a like-for-like comparison with the same days in 2025 shows only a modest change. The night of the opening ceremony is up just 1% year on year, and the closing ceremony 3%.
Short-term rental occupancy is comfortably ahead of the overall booking curve for most dates, hitting 77.7% for the opening ceremony and peaking at 87.8% on September 20. Weekends are the high points.
Hotel occupancy is likely running higher still. Hotels are a far larger segment of the market, and supply constraints are the main driver.
Nagoya has just over 350 hotel properties and close to 900 short-term rental listings, giving a total market capacity of roughly 100,000 guests. Officials and athletes were still being assigned private accommodation a month before the Games, so much of that capacity has been removed from public sale.
One date to watch is September 26, when athletics, baseball, basketball, football and gymnastics are all underway. Combined attendance for those events is above 100,000, and each has a large following across Asia, so expect further upward pricing pressure.
Organizers expect total attendance across all events to reach around 1.5 million, although some events take place in Tokyo.
Nagoya outperforms the rest of Japan in 2026
Attendees and participants together add up to a substantial demand injection for a market that was already outperforming the rest of Japan.
Japan’s hospitality sector has weakened through 2026 after a period of very strong growth once the country reopened to international travel in 2022. As our H1 2026 pricing report noted, advertised prices for H2 2026 were considerably weaker, and Japanese destinations featured prominently among the weakest performing markets in our research.
Nagoya has held up better, with this event giving it a much welcome boost. Taking the week starting January 1, 2023 as the baseline (= 1) for hotel searches on OTA and metasearch sites, Nagoya tracks the rest of Japan through 2023 and then pulls ahead.
Year-to-date searches in 2026 are nearly six times the baseline for Nagoya, compared with around four times for Japan. That explains why advertised and actualized hotel prices in Nagoya are up 2% in 2026 while Japan is down 4% on average.
Part of Nagoya’s success may come from government efforts to spread tourism beyond the main hotspots after local pushback against overtourism. But it also shows the value of anchoring a pricing strategy around major events.
Nagoya is the main accommodation hub for the Japanese Grand Prix, held in March and visible as the other big pricing and demand spike in the charts above. Between the Grand Prix and the Asian Games, major sport accounts for a large share of the city’s pricing resilience. Travelers are still willing to open their wallets for it.
Price your property for the next major event in your market
Each market has its own dynamic and reacts differently to a surge in travel demand. The only way to effectively track and act on these signals is with the right data. If you want your property to outperform the wider market during major events, get the inside track with Lighthouse’s AI-enabled intelligence.
Frequently asked questionsWhen are the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya?
The 2026 Asian Games run from September 19 to October 4, 2026, with Nagoya and the wider Aichi prefecture as host and a small number of events staged in Tokyo. More than 15,000 athletes are competing across close to 500 medal events, and organizers expect total attendance of around 1.5 million.
How much do Nagoya hotels cost during the Asian Games?
Lighthouse data shows the average standard hotel room in Nagoya for the week starting September 21, 2026 priced at JPY 48,399, the highest week of the year and 123% above the city’s 2026 annual average. The surrounding weeks average JPY 40,095 (from September 14) and JPY 37,767 (from September 28).
Why are Nagoya hotel prices so high when demand is only slightly up year on year?
Supply, not demand, is doing most of the work. A large share of Nagoya’s hotel and short-term rental inventory has been reserved for athletes, officials and trainers, leaving limited rooms for the public. Demand for the opening ceremony night is up just 1% on 2025, yet rates are 99% above the four weeks before the Games.
How are short-term rentals in Nagoya performing during the Games?
Short-term rental rates peak at $268 for the week starting September 21, 59% above the 2026 annual average and 67% higher than the previous four weeks. Occupancy is ahead of the booking curve for most Games dates, reaching 77.7% on the opening ceremony night and a high of 87.8% on September 20.
Is Nagoya outperforming the rest of Japan in 2026?
Yes. Advertised and actualized hotel prices in Nagoya are up 2% in 2026 while Japan is down 4% on average. Hotel searches for Nagoya on OTA and metasearch sites are nearly six times their January 2023 level, compared with around four times for Japan, helped by the Japanese Grand Prix in March and the Asian Games.
Jonathan Gough
Jonathan Gough is Content Team Lead at Lighthouse, spearheading all things content marketing. With a marketing career of over a decade, dedicated solely to travel, tourism and hospitality, Jonathan is passionate about leveraging Lighthouse’s technology to move the sector forward and provide lodging professionals with the tools they need to grow their business.
About Lighthouse
Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways.
Trusted by over 65,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partners – their success is our success.
Source: View the original article at Lighthouse.