Korean hotels are chasing minimal camping, time-limited flash sales, and book-cation packages to stay relevant. From car camping's 71% surge to Incheon hotels serving regional cuisine, the industry is experimenting fast.
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'Car camping', 'campnic'… The new trend is 'minimal camping'?
Ever heard of '차박' (chabak) or 'campnic'? Chabak means sleeping overnight in your SUV instead of pitching a tent. Campnic — a mashup of camping and picnic — is casual outdoor fun without the heavy gear. These terms are everywhere right now. Among Korean campers, "minimal camping" — light, low-commitment trips — is exploding in popularity.
According to a recent camping trends report from the Korea Tourism Organization and Korea Consumer Agency, interest in car camping surged 71% from 2017, leading all camping formats. Camping vans (+27%), minimal camping (+17%), and campnic (+13%) all showed strong growth too.
Car camping's spike owes a lot to cable TV shows romanticizing the vibe. For people who don't mind roughing it a little, car camping delivers outdoor vibes with minimal fuss. Campnic — think picnicking by the Han River or a neighborhood park — taps the same ethos: easy access to nature, no gear required.
Data from Yeogi Eottae (a major Korean booking platform) shows that this fall, 6 in 10 campers traveled to greater Seoul for short getaways — weekend or weeknight trips. Of the top 10 destinations, Gapyeong (32.2%) and Pocheon (26.9%) alone accounted for nearly 60% of bookings.
Minimal camping thrives because barriers are low. With more glamping and turnkey camping sites, you don't need your own tent or stove. The result? Demand for camping near Seoul has soared. If you operate a camping or glamping property, now's the time to pay attention. Understand what these travelers want — short stays, low friction, Instagrammable setups — and build packages around it. Get this right, and you could ride the wave back to camping's glory days.
[뉴스1코리아, 2019.10.28, '미니멀 캠핑여행' 대세…덩달아 '가평·포천' 인기]
Time-limited sales, book-cations, regional cuisine menus… How far will hotels go?
Korean hotels are scrambling to adapt to shifting travel and cultural trends. And they're pulling out all the stops. Take Walkerhill Hotel & Resort: they've positioned themselves as an urban nature escape with a series of "book-cation" promotions. Grand Walkerhill Seoul runs the Walkerhill Library — over 30,000 books — paired with a café, lectures, and cultural workshops. It's a fresh take, and guests love it.
Luxury hotels are also turning into culinary destinations by spotlighting regional flavors. The Shilla Jeju went viral on social media for its "abalone and Korean beef brisket jjamppong" (spicy seafood noodles). Capitalizing on the buzz, they launched a lobster jjamppong and a Jeju apple mango bingsu (shaved ice dessert). Andaz Seoul — part of Hyatt's luxury line — leaned into Korean identity by serving makgeolli (rice wine) and dishes made with traditional Korean sauces, rare finds in five-star hotel F&B. They've even planned wine dinners in collaboration with old Seoul restaurants. Despite room rates starting at ₩280,000/night (penthouses top ₩10 million), guests keep coming.
These efforts are paying off. In 2019, non-guest use of hotel amenities — buffets, weekday packages, event spaces, tours — spiked. At The Shilla Jeju, over 60% of buffet diners weren't even hotel guests. Hotel F&B is a powerful entry point: it's accessible, high-margin, and drives word-of-mouth. Signature dishes spread fast. Hotels know this. Even if rooms don't sell, restaurants can print money.
Hotels have also revamped pricing and sales tactics. As Black Friday culture spread to Korea, November became a retail peak — hotels jumped in to stimulate travel appetite. Traditionally, November is dead: no holidays, no events (unlike September's Chuseok, October's Halloween, or December's Christmas). To fight the slump, Shinsegae Josun Hotel ran "SSG Day" promotions, Lotte Hotel partnered with Lotte World on Halloween packages, and chains like Lotte and Ananti Namhae launched time-limited flash sales.
Hotels are evolving fast to match consumer behavior. What about your property? Think you don't have the capital, staff, or creativity to compete? Look closer. Trends are everywhere. Could you brand your property around local identity? Offer day-use packages? Open a café or unique F&B concept? Even small experiments can become powerful hooks. Start somewhere. That first move might be what brings guests through the door.
[머니투데이, 2019.11.01, 11월 '한국판 블프', 호텔도 '타임세일' 합니다]
[서울경제, 2019.11.05, 제주신라호텔 "애플망고빙수 원조 맛집으로 오세요"]
Bleeding from ad spend and commissions: lodging operators crushed by booking app power plays
The #1 question ONDA gets at seminars, trainings, and in our support channels lately? Ad costs and platform commissions. As Korea's booking app market exploded — dominated by Yanolja and Yeogi Eottae — these platforms have jacked up ad fees and commission rates. Lodging operators are pushing back, accusing the apps of abuse.
According to the Daegu branch of the Korea Lodging Industry Association, operators pay an estimated ₩1 billion+ per month in aggregate ad fees to booking apps — roughly 30% of total margins. Per property, ad spend and commissions average ₩3 million/month, ranging from ₩200,000 to ₩5.5 million.
Yanolja's revenue tells the story. In 2014, it did ₩20 billion in sales. By 2018? ₩160 billion — an 8x jump, putting it on track for the "₩1 trillion club." Most of that revenue comes not from bookings, but from operator ad spend and commissions. Yanolja has been accused of monopolizing mobile ad inventory and unilaterally changing room rates — classic platform power plays. In October 2019, Yanolja's CEO was summoned to testify at a National Assembly audit over allegations of abusive practices.
Local lodging associations, trade groups, and even a Blue House citizen petition have called for ad fee caps, commission reductions, and regulatory intervention. But operators feel stuck. 90% of Korean lodging bookings flow through these apps. Not using them means near-zero visibility. Meanwhile, despite revenue growth, the platforms have posted five straight years of operating losses — and operators say the platforms are passing those losses onto them.
Booking platforms are now essential infrastructure. Operators and apps need each other. But when one side exploits that dependency for one-sided gain, trust collapses. The loser? Guests — and the entire lodging industry. We hope both sides find a fair resolution. ONDA will continue to stand with operators and pursue partnerships that create mutual growth.
[경향신문, 2019.10.27, 숙박예약 중개 앱 횡포에 숙박업체들 '부글부글'…객실 20개 모텔, 광고·수수료로 매달 300만 원]