What are the 5 ways to improve hotel operational efficiency, according to Hotstats — the global hotel performance analytics firm?
1. 5 Ways to Improve Hotel Operational Efficiency | HNR News | 2022.09.12
Hotstats — the global hotel performance analytics firm — just released five ways to improve hotel operational efficiency.
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Encourage guest reviews to identify what guests want and make effective improvements
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Offer automated services to reduce wait times and enhance the guest experience
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Embrace staff feedback — they know the property's pain points best and can drive efficiency improvements
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Implement recycling and reuse policies across the hotel, including guests and staff
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Install efficient heating and cooling systems for better temperature control and monitoring
To improve operational efficiency, hotels need to adopt automated systems and stay open to guest reviews and staff feedback.
2. Impact Peoples: "Shilla Jeju, #1 Jeju Hotel Among 40–60s" | Newswire | 2022.09.12
Impact Peoples — a senior online platform — released data on Jeju hotel usage trends among people in their 40s and 60s.
The survey targeted active seniors aged 40–60 with strong purchasing power. Surprisingly, their booking methods were: OTA websites/apps (40.7%), hotel official websites/apps (34%), Naver Bookings (8.6%). Not just Gen Z and Millennials — over 80% of middle-aged travelers now book hotels online.
3. Hotels Cater to Travelers Over 50 With New Targeted Marketing | Skift | 2022.09.13
Travel media outlet Skift says it's time to prioritize age over aesthetics in travel marketing.
According to an AARP survey, 67% of Americans over 50 have travel plans for 2022. After running a marketing campaign featuring senior models, Charlestowne Hotels saw online bookings by guests 65+ jump 20%. It's time to rethink how we attract senior travelers.
This year's Chuseok holiday was the first major holiday since social distancing measures were lifted. Pent-up travel demand exploded.
According to Korea Expressway Corporation, highway traffic on Chuseok day (Sept. 10) hit 6.2 million vehicles — a record high for the holiday. Average daily traffic was up 16% year-over-year and 9.2% higher than pre-pandemic Chuseok 2019.
Accommodations near tourist sites nationwide were fully booked as travelers flooded in. Yeogi Eottae reported a 75% surge in bookings during this year's Chuseok weekend (Sept. 10–12) compared to last year's (Sept. 20–22).
We covered domestic travel trends for Chuseok. International travel also surged.
Yanolja and Interpark analyzed leisure data for this year's Chuseok and found international travel package bookings up 1,664% year-over-year. International flight bookings jumped 2,824%.
Top destinations for flights and packages: Vietnam, Guam, Thailand, Philippines — all Southeast Asia. The short Chuseok holiday drove travelers toward destinations with shorter flight times.
6. This Chuseok: Seogwipo #1 Domestic, Bangkok #1 International Hotel Search | TTL News | 2022.09.07
What are the travel trends for Chuseok in the pandemic-recovery era? Travel search engine KAYAK and hotel platform HotelsCombined analyzed search data and released "2022 Chuseok Holiday Travel Trends."
Domestic hotel searches were roughly 2× higher than international hotel searches — a significant increase even compared to Chuseok 2019. Jeju dominated: Seogwipo and Jeju City ranked #1 and #2, followed by Seoul, Busan, and Gangneung.
For international hotels, perennial favorites Bangkok, Paris, Guam, and New York topped the list. Notably, 8 out of the top 10 hotels were resorts in vacation destinations — proof that travelers are seeking private, nature-focused getaways.
7. "Pandemic Reverses City–Rural Airbnb Host Earnings" | Sports Kyunghyang | 2022.09.07
Airbnb recently released the "APAC Tourism Dispersal Report," highlighting post-pandemic travel trend shifts.
Post-pandemic, people started seeking lesser-known destinations outside cities. As travel dispersed, median host earnings in non-urban areas in Q2 2022 more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic 2019.
According to Airbnb data, 2022 bookings in Korea's non-urban areas surged over 180% compared to 2019, and searches for accommodations outside cities or major tourist areas jumped dramatically. Searches for Yeongdeok-gun (North Gyeongsang Province) rose 580%; Sancheong-gun (South Gyeongsang Province) up 560% — clear evidence of the post-pandemic shift in travel behavior.
8. Camping Still Popular After COVID: Camping Industry Up 8.2% YoY | TTL News | 2022.09.06
The camping boom that started with COVID-19 in 2020 continued strong into 2021.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Tourism Organization conduct an annual camping survey. The 2021 results show the estimated camping industry size reached ₩6.3 trillion — up 8.2% from 2020 (₩5.8 trillion). Registered campgrounds nationwide totaled 2,703 in 2021, up 14.4% from 2020 (2,363).
What about camper numbers? Total campers in 2021: 5.23 million — down 2% from 2020 (5.34 million). But the decline was minimal compared to 2020's all-time high driven by COVID restrictions, suggesting camping's popularity is holding steady.
When asked, "Will you continue camping after COVID-19 ends?" 89.3% said they'd increase camping trips (30.4%) or maintain current frequency (58.9%). It'll be interesting to see whether camping's popularity persists once international travel fully resumes.
Late last year, Airbnb made headlines by launching its Translation Engine, which translates over 60 languages.
This summer, Airbnb announced it will roll out real-time interpretation for guest–host messaging and translation support for over 550 million reviews on the platform. Airbnb's translation engine will enable seamless communication between hosts and guests and give travelers accurate access to reviews of properties abroad.
10. "K-pop Concerts, Formula E — Reviving Seoul Tourism Out of Stagnation" | Chosun Biz | 2022.09.08
Seoul Festa — a tourism festival combining K-pop concerts, Formula E World Championship, and massive sales — took place across Seoul from August 10–14, 2022.
Seoul City originally planned Seoul Festa for 2020, but the pandemic delayed it until this year. The city plans to use Seoul Festa 2022 as a launchpad to revitalize Seoul's stagnant tourism industry.
Choi Kyung-joo, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said: "Seoul Festa will be the signal flare for the reopening of Seoul tourism. We'll hold Seoul Festa this year, next year, and beyond to leap forward as a global top-5 city." Here's hoping Seoul Festa brings recovery — and we can look forward to Seoul Festa 2023 in May.