--- title: "NEWS: Monthly Industry Brief (January 2019)" description: "Monthly snapshot of hospitality trends: millennial travel preferences, global OTA trust issues, hotel-vs-pension dynamics, BRG abuse, and pension safety after a tragic CO poisoning." published: 2019-01-09T00:00:00+00:00 author: "ONDA 편집팀" category: "Insights" image: "https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a9fd0a67680ede024c7f87_62e7682372181ed2b3bd5b3f_5e942cd1f70fbb542d0fe24c_cafe.jpeg" canonical: https://global.onda.me/en/blog?slug=news-bbareuge-ilgeoboneun-idalyi-saneobdonghyang-2019-01 locale: en --- # NEWS: Monthly Industry Brief (January 2019) ⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting. ![cafe](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a9fd0a67680ede024c7f87_62e7682372181ed2b3bd5b3f_5e942cd1f70fbb542d0fe24c_cafe.jpeg) ### **Millennials drove travel in 2018. You need to keep up in 2019.** It's no exaggeration to say millennials shaped 2018's travel trends. In a Skyscanner survey, respondents said "dining" was both the category they'd splurge on *and* the one they'd least want to cut—a perfect example of this year's Korean buzzword *JMT* (slang for "insanely delicious"). Asked why they travel, "rest and relaxation" topped the list—a shift from the old adventure-and-experience ethos. The survey confirms that millennial values are now baked into travel behavior. Born roughly between the early 1980s and early 2000s, millennials are digitally savvy and well-educated, but they also face job insecurity and rising living costs. They prioritize personal fulfillment over societal success, experiences over ownership, and present happiness over future security. Generational values drive spending patterns—and businesses adapt or die. Airbnb rode this wave brilliantly. Its "more than just a place to stay" motto went beyond shared accommodation: it launched Airbnb Experiences to sell experiential travel, hitting millennials right where it counts. Fall behind the curve and you're out. It's time to ask: is my property evolving with millennial expectations, or am I falling behind? [news1, 2018.12.26, "'Delicious food, rest, friend referrals' — 2018 travel trends in review"] --- ### **How long will global booking platforms keep betraying customers?** Agoda sold an unverified property to a consumer, refused proper compensation, and the fallout went public. A Korean family booked a Malaysian hotel through Agoda. Three days before departure, the hotel emailed them: policy change, booking invalid. Agoda scrambled to rebook them—but the replacement property *also* wasn't properly registered. The family couldn't check in, and Agoda went silent. They flew home with nowhere to stay. Agoda still sent a "check-out complete" message. When the family demanded compensation, Agoda offered only a refund. Once the family threatened to go to the press, Agoda's tune changed: a settlement *ten times* the booking price—if they signed an NDA. Convenient? Yes. Cheap? Often. But global OTAs like Agoda rack up complaints over unreasonable cancellation policies, shoddy property vetting, and poor oversight. The kicker: foreign-registered companies like Agoda aren't bound by Korean consumer law, so they can refuse refunds or cancellations at will. Until these giants restore trust, it's the honest property operators—and their guests—who pay the price. [KBS, 2018.12.18, "'Nightmare family trip'…Agoda's irresponsible booking platform"] --- ### **The "hotel-cation" boom is real. What's your strategy?** Hotels are eating pensions' lunch. Over the past three years, hotel preference grew 7%, while pensions dropped 4%. This summer's heatwave drove the "hotel-cation" trend—people escaping to hotels for staycations—and the momentum hasn't stopped. Pensions and guesthouses, meanwhile, are losing ground. Why? Travel shifted from sightseeing to rest. Cooking gave way to dining out. Online booking platforms made hotels more accessible. Hotel rates came down. To survive, hotels slashed prices, diversified packages, improved service, and reinvented themselves as cultural hubs. Pensions tried to diversify too—new categories, new services—but budget guesthouses that once competed on price alone lost their edge. They couldn't meet rising customer expectations and got squeezed out. Pensions still lead in domestic lodging preference, but hotels are closing the gap fast. In a few years, hotels could overtake them. Ask yourself: is your property meeting evolving guest expectations? What do you need to change to stay competitive? [news1, 2018.12.18, "'Hotel-cation boom': hotels surge while pensions and guesthouses lag"] --- ### **Smart consumers vs. black consumers: a fine line** Ever heard of BRG? In the hotel world, it stands for **Best Rate Guarantee**. Upscale hotels use it to lock in loyalty: if you find a cheaper rate on an OTA, the hotel will match it—or beat it—if you book directly. It cuts OTA commissions and pulls customers to the hotel's own site or app. But Korea is pushing BRG to the breaking point. Korean travelers file more BRG claims than any other nationality, using the label "smart consumer" to justify booking luxury hotels at absurdly low rates. Technically legal? Yes. But morally? When hotels bend over backward to honor these claims, staff burn hours price-matching, morale drops, and service quality suffers. Hotels are already fighting back: stricter BRG terms, excluded third parties, tighter conditions. Don't let a well-intentioned policy get abused into extinction. Be a smart consumer—not a black consumer. [Mediapen, 2018.12.16, "Hotel BRG: light and shadow"] --- ### **After the pension tragedy, let's stop closing the barn door after the horse bolts** Late December: ten high school seniors celebrating the end of the college entrance exam checked into a pension in Gangneung. A crooked boiler flue leaked carbon monoxide into the room. Three students died. Schools, education offices, and government agencies scrambled—but only after the fact. The tragedy sparked calls for stricter safety oversight, mandatory CO detectors, and systemic reform. But who's even responsible for pension safety? That remains unclear. The property wasn't registered as a tourist pension. It had a **rural homestay license** (농어촌 민박업)—a looser category introduced in 1995 to boost rural tourism and farm income. Rural homestays only need fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. CO detectors? Not required. Twenty-five years later, the government is scrambling to patch the gaps. But if we keep fixing the barn after the horse is gone, tragedies will keep happening. Check your property's safety now—for your guests and your business. [Hankyoreh, 2018.12.20, "Pensions lack clear safety oversight…gov't 'mandatory alarms' too late"] --- ## [**Read the full magazine >>**](http://bit.ly/magazineon25)