Millennials are redefining global travel with longer stays, higher spending, and a hunger for local experiences. Korean hotels that adapt to FIT trends and tech expectations stand to capture a lucrative, growing segment.
Dawn of Millennials — Time to Capture Foreign Travellers!
KOR / ENG
Article by Booking.com
According to UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals hit 901 million from January to August 2017 — marking eight straight years of growth. The global travel industry is riding an unprecedented boom.
And Korea isn't sitting on the sidelines. During the same period, visitor arrivals to the Asia-Pacific region (including Korea) jumped 6%. The takeaway for Korean hospitality businesses? Look outward. The real opportunity lies in attracting foreign travellers exploring diverse destinations for different reasons.
Why Foreign Guests Matter
The upside of hosting international travellers goes beyond sheer numbers. Look at how they typically travel, and the case for attracting them becomes even clearer. Foreign visitors tend to book earlier, stay longer, spend more, and cancel less than domestic guests. Since they've traveled far to get here, they commit. Plus, since peak seasons vary by country, strategically targeting international guests can help you fill rooms during domestic off-peak periods.
Capturing Foreign Travellers: Read the Trends
To win global travellers, you need to stay ahead of trends. Right now, two keywords dominate the conversation: the rise of millennials and the surge of free independent travellers (FITs).
Millennials (born 1981–2000) are reshaping how industries think about service — and hospitality is no exception. Content marketing agency EnVeritas Group breaks down millennial travel behavior into five key traits:
1) They prioritize unique experiences over practicality (think themed stays and immersive activities).
2) They prefer open, social spaces where they can meet new people.
3) They actively seek out local food and drink experiences.
4) They expect seamless integration of the latest tech.
5) They're laser-focused on value for money.
Meanwhile, as millennials gain travel clout, the shift from package tours to independent travel is accelerating. Tech-savvy and less constrained by language barriers, younger travellers prefer building their own itineraries over following group schedules. They research online, curate experiences, and book flexibly.
Chinese FITs in particular have become a global phenomenon. Chinese millennials — expected to account for 55% of China's consumer spending within five years — overwhelmingly prefer independent travel. TripAdvisor China Unbounded reports that 52% of Chinese FITs choose overseas destinations with longer stays. As Korea-China relations thaw, Korean hospitality businesses should act fast to capture this high-value segment.
Why Booking.com Makes It Easy
Hotel reservation solution provider SiteMinder outlines five tactics for attracting international guests:
1) Support as many languages and currencies as possible
2) Stay active on social media
3) Work with OTAs and optimize SEO
4) Partner with global websites to promote your property
5) Maintain your site and manage guest reviews
If you're on Booking.com, you're already covering most of these. The platform supports 43 languages and currencies — more than Amazon or eBay. Your property page can be auto-translated based on demand, and rates convert seamlessly to the user's preferred currency.
Booking.com invests heavily in SEO to ensure properties rank high for destination and accommodation-type searches, driving more exposure to global travellers.
The platform's 100+ million verified guest reviews are so trusted that even search engines like Naver pull from them. Reviews are rigorously vetted for accuracy and objectivity. And through the Booking.com Extranet, property partners can respond to reviews in real time — a critical tool for reputation management.
Start meeting global travellers on Booking.com today.
International tourism is on the rise! Statistics from UNWTO (World Tourism Barometer) show that from January till August 2017, there were 901 million international tourist arrivals. Upward trajectory of international tourism has been continuing for the last 8 consecutive years without any signs of stopping.
This is not a story from a distant land. During the same period above, number of international visitors in the Asia Pacific Region that includes S.Korea also increased by 6%. How then do we capture international tourists flooding in on an unprecedented scale? In this article, we will be looking at how hosting international guests can benefit your business and practical measures we can take to draw attentions of foreign tourists all over the world.
Why Host International Guests?
Untapped giant pool of demand from foreign travellers really exists and it is for us to exploit this opportunity. Not so convinced how international guests can be a cash cow? Benefits are obvious if you look at their travel patterns. According to Booking.com's own database, foreign travellers tend to book early, cancel less, stay longer and spend more whilst their stay! Plus, differences in high seasons among the different nationalities can play to your advantage as this can make up for low demand in domestic market. (e.g. high season for Americans can be a low season for Korean market!)
Get into Swing of Latest Travel Trend
How then do we attract foreign guests? One needs to be in the constant look out for the latest travel trend. Right now, the hottest two buzzwords for travel industry are 'Rise of Millennials' and 'Free Independent Traveller (FIT)'.
So called Millennials (born between 1981~2000) are now considered to be trend setters in the industry and they are showing different purchasing behaviour. EnVeritas Group, a content marketing agency has typified consuming behaviours of millennials as follows. 1) Millennials want an experience, not just functionality. 2) Millennials love open public spaces to meet new people and gather with friends. 3) Local dining and drinking options are a must. 4) Technology is no longer an option, but a necessity. 5) Millennials want more bang for their buck.
Influence of millennials is such that they are reshaping the way travelling is traditionally done i.e. Package Travelling is giving ground to Free Independent Travelling (FIT). Tech savvy millennials are less bound by language barrier and tend to prefer independent way of travelling. Rather than following the itinerary set by others, making own plans based on the hand picked information is their preferred method of travelling. What is interesting and noteworthy is the fact that same trend can be found among Chinese youth. Growth of Chinese FIT has now become a new buzzword for global travel industry. Chinese millennials are expected to take up more than 55% of Chinese consumers within next 5 years and their preferred way of travelling is that of independent way. According to TripAdvisor China Unbounded, 52% of Chinese FITs are said to be opting for overseas travelling with longer stay period. And this bit of information becomes all the more relevant for Korean property owners as existing tension between the Chinese and Korean government is beginning to thaw.
Host International Guests through Booking.com
SiteMinder — the hotel reservation solution provider suggested 5 know-hows to capture international guests. And they are as follows:
1) Increase your language and currency capabilities
2) Stay active on social media
3) Keep up-to-date with OTAs and maximise SEO
4) Partner with international websites and showcase your destination
5) Maintain your website and manage your reviews
Luckily, if you are with Booking.com, you are more or less covered for all five know-hows above. Booking.com is offering service in 43 languages and currencies — an industry leading figure, even exceeding other e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Ebay. Once your property is registered with Booking.com, your property page can be translated into 43 languages according to demand and be exposed to global audiences. It is also easy to convert your room rate to other currencies that customers want to see.
Main strength of Booking.com has always been SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and we are continuing to invest heavily in this area so that any keywords relating to your property can rank higher on all major search engines round the world.
As for guest reviews, Booking.com possesses over 100 million guest reviews written by customers who actually stayed at the property. This is why major search engine such as Naver is using our guest reviews. We are proud to keep our reviews genuine yet objective. And partners are happy as they can directly reply guest reviews. This feature is helping property owners to maintain high level of service and manage their reputation even after guest's stay is over.
At Booking.com, it is easy to meet your guests all around the world!
References
https://enveritasgroup.com/campfire/5-ways-attract-millennial-travelers-hotel/
Booking.com
Contact
Hani Lee hani.lee@booking.com
Rachel Jeong rachel.jeong@booking.com