ONDA Releases Accommodation Trends Report: Domestic Travel Diversifying

ONDA Releases Accommodation Trends Report: Domestic Travel Diversifying

- ONDA unveils 2023–24 Hospitality Data & Trends Report

- Peak season demand dispersing; seasonal travel appetite growing

- Industry professionals rate 2023 accommodation sector outlook slightly improved over prior year

(Press release — January 29, 2024) Korea's online accommodation market kept growing in 2023. Outbound travel picked up and Jeju saw a slight dip, but the outlook for domestic travel and hospitality remains bright — especially with inbound tourist numbers expected to climb.

According to the '2023–24 Hospitality Data & Trends Report' released Monday by hospitality tech company ONDA, online accommodation sales via ONDA rose 24.9% year-over-year and more than doubled (up 118.5%) compared to 2021.

The 2023 accommodation trend in one word: diversification. Travel demand that used to cluster in peak summer months is spreading out, with more people traveling across all four seasons. July was the busiest month in 2022, but in 2023, June took the crown. Traditional peak months July and August came in second and third, with October and November rounding out the top five — and the gap between spots 2–3 and 4–5 narrowed significantly from the year before.

Gangwon, Jeju, and the Seoul metro area still pulled in the most visitors, but accommodation sales in South Jeolla, South Chungcheong, and Busan surged 48%, 30%, and 29% respectively year-over-year.

By accommodation type, the pandemic-era boom in standalone properties (villas, private homes) cooled, while hotels and resorts — shared-facility formats — grew in popularity. Hotel average transaction value (ATV) rose 16% to ₩158,000. Pool villas, by contrast, dropped 12.5% from ₩314,000 in 2023 to ₩274,000.

Pool villa ATV dipped, but total transaction volume through ONDA jumped 62.7% — so the segment is still growing fast. Both supply and demand are expanding, but intensifying competition pushed prices down.

An industry survey of 321 hospitality professionals conducted last November found that the overall sector health score improved slightly to 6.9 points (out of 10), up from 6.1 in 2022. Hotel and resort operators rated conditions above 7 points on average, while pension (small property) owners gave an average score of 6.

Looking ahead to 2024, sentiment split. Fifty-one percent of hotel and resort operators are optimistic, but only 22% of small property owners share that outlook. Reasons for optimism: rising Chinese visitor numbers and sustained interest in new destinations and travel formats. The pessimistic camp cited prolonged economic slowdown as their chief concern.

ONDA's report also includes trend forecasts from leading global research firms and international OTAs. The full report is available for free download on ONDA's corporate blog.

"Downloads of the ONDA Trends Report quadrupled in 2023 versus 2022, showing strong industry interest," said Jun-ho Choi, Head of External Communications at ONDA. "We'll keep refining and deepening these reports to better serve the hospitality sector."

ONDA publishes biannual 'Hospitality Data & Trends Reports' for hotel and accommodation professionals. The data comes from 2.63 million real transactions over three years processed through Korea's largest integrated sales platform, ONDA HUB. The full report is available under Reports & Content on ONDA's corporate blog. <end>