Horwath HTL Japan welcomes new Managing Director, industry veteran, Ryuji Sawada.
Tokyo, July 2026
Horwath HTL, the world’s only independent advisory brand focused entirely on hospitality, tourism, and leisure consulting, announced today that Ryuji Sawada has joined the firm as Managing Director, where he will oversee advisory services across Japan.
Sawada is a leading hospitality and real estate consultant with over 20 years of experience advising hotel operators, developers, investors, financial institutions, and public-sector organizations across Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. After beginning his career at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, he moved into consulting in 2000 and became one of Japan’s earliest specialists in hotel consulting at Deloitte, where he founded the Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure practice and led major industry initiatives, including a 300‑person hotel management conference.
He has contributed extensively to industry dialogue through keynote speeches, panel discussions, publications, and his well-known book 15 Points of Hotel Management. From 2016 to June 2026, he led PwC’s Real Estate & Hospitality practice, advising on development strategy, feasibility, operator selection, organizational design, and asset management across diverse hospitality assets.
Ryuji Sawada, Managing Director of Horwath HTL Japan, said, “At Horwath HTL, we are committed to being the leading global advisor in the hospitality industry. As we expand in 2026 and beyond, we will strategically select a small, highly skilled group of professionals nationwide to ensure our clients receive unparalleled service. Our mission is to build the industry’s most specialized, experienced, and client-focused team, delivering cutting-edge valuation and true advisory solutions. While these disciplines are widely practiced, we aim to redefine them and set a new standard for excellence in hospitality, tourism, and leisure consultancy.”
James Chappell, Global Business Director, Horwath HTL said: “We are excited to welcome Ryuji Sawada to Horwath HTL as Managing Director of Horwath HTL Japan. His extensive experience and proven track record in the industry make him the ideal fit for our team. Bringing Ryuji Sawada on, is a key step ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional service to our clients while positioning ourselves for continued growth.”
If you have any questions, please contact James Chappell at jchappell@horwathtl.com
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At Horwath HTL, our focus is one hundred percent on hospitality, tourism and leisure consulting. Our services cover every aspect of hospitality real estate, tourism and leisure development. Our clients choose us because we have earned a reputation for impartial advice that will often mean the difference between failure and success. Each project we help is different, so we need all the experience we have gained over our 100-year history. We are a global brand with more than 50 offices in over 40 countries who have successfully carried out over 50,000 assignments for private and public clients.
We are part of the Crowe Global network, a top 10 accounting and financial services network. We are the number one choice for companies and financial institutions looking to invest and develop in the industry.