\"Naver is my go-to for booking accommodations\" Naver's share of pension and pool villa sales keeps growing. We picked 10 questions you might have about selling accommodations on Naver — especially pensions and small lodgings.
Hello subscribers — the Lunar New Year holiday is just around the corner. Korea's big "2024 Korea Accommodation Sale Festa with the Moon" — which offers lodging discount coupons — kicks off on the 7th. We wish all Weekly ON readers a happy and prosperous new year. We're taking next week off and will be back on February 20th!
⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting.
In this issue:
🏨 "Naver is my go-to for booking accommodations"
📬 ONDA launches major hiring drive for pension sales and other roles
⌨️ #HotelADR #OverseasTravelPlatforms #HiltonMobileMessaging #HomesharingPerception #ChineseTouristTrends
🏨 Industry story
(Sponsored) "Naver is my go-to
for booking accommodations"
That's the finding from Open Survey's Travel Trend Report 2023 (published last November) on domestic travel accommodation search and booking channels.
Naver is Korea's #1 search portal, so isn't it obvious they'd be the most-used? You'd think so. But in the same survey back in 2018, the top two were Korean OTAs, third was an e-commerce giant, and Naver's "Naver Hotel" service came in fifth. Since Naver launched accommodation booking, it's quietly become the platform Koreans turn to most.
ONDA's internal data confirms it: Naver's share of pension and pool villa sales keeps growing. We get a ton of questions about it. So this post tackles ten of the most common questions about selling accommodations on Naver — especially pensions and small lodgings.
Q1: There are so many sales channels. What's Naver's edge?
ONDA Pension Squad: Naver lets you check accommodation info across search and maps — photos, reviews, homepage links. Customers research and book in one place. It's consumer-friendly from discovery to conversion.
Q2: That's a strong advantage. I want to start selling pensions on Naver. Where do I begin?
Pension Squad: First, you'll need a business registration certificate. Then register your property on Naver Place. That's step one. Next, use the Naver Booking settings tab to upload images, room details, and pricing. Once that's done, you're ready to sell.
Q3: Marketing feels overwhelming when I'm just starting out. Where should I focus first?
Pension Squad: Apply for "Newly Opened" in the Naver Smart Place Help Center. This feature highlights businesses in a given area (eup/myeon/dong) that opened within the last 90 days. Guest houses, campsites, hanok stays, and pensions all qualify. You'll show up in "newly opened accommodation" searches — a must if you just launched.
Q4: The survey said Naver is #1. Can I just run Naver and call it a day?
Pension Squad: Honestly, no. In most cases, selling only on Naver has real limitations.
Other channels run heavy coupon campaigns and promotions. Naver lets you issue coupons yourself, but the platform doesn't spend marketing budget to give customers incentives — not yet, anyway.
And Naver's dominance isn't absolute. Ignoring other channels means leaving sales on the table. That's a huge opportunity cost.
Don't forget overseas channels either. As promotions on global platforms expand, more Korean customers are booking there too — that's the trend.
Q5: So you're saying I should use ONDA, which manages multiple channels?
Pension Squad: (laughs) Didn't expect you to put it that bluntly, but… yes. ONDA manages Naver and many other channels.
But there are specific advantages to running Naver with ONDA. First, we handle everything from Place registration to booking management in one platform — it's incredibly convenient.
Also, Naver doesn't have instant customer support. That makes communication tough. ONDA offers CS support, so you get help when guests have questions — more touchpoints with customers.
Sure, you can do everything yourself on Naver. But running a business means variables and problems. With ONDA, you get guidance and troubleshooting from our ops team. That's a real advantage.
Q6: Got it. Naver is strong. ONDA adds value. Anything else that helps?
Pension Squad: Naver runs business education programs for property owners. If you're new to hospitality, that training will set you up with a solid foundation.
ONDA also has tons of sales data from Naver. Properties that sell consistently? They have these things in common.
What makes a pension sell well on Naver? Check it out at the link below!
👉 "Naver is my go-to for booking accommodations"
📬 ONDA News
ONDA is hiring big across ▲Pension Plus sales ▲Pension Plus partner managers ▲sales channel strategy & ops managers ▲CS center managers.
This hiring push is driven by our pension business. We've introduced an aggressive incentive structure for sales roles: unlimited incentives with no cap, purely performance-based.
We prioritize candidates with travel or hospitality experience, but you don't need pension sales background. We've built detailed onboarding — product training, industry deep dives — to get anyone up to speed.
If you're energized about transforming hospitality with ONDA's tech, we want to hear from you!
👇 Full details on ONDA's careers site.
👉 Visit ONDA Careers
⌨️ Keyword News
1️⃣ Hotel ADR 👉 [full story]
TL;DR: Korea's hotel ADR up 32% vs. 2019
The story: According to the Korea Hotel Association, domestic hotels' average daily rate (ADR) rose from ₩122,128 in 2019 to ₩160,684 in 2023 — a 31.6% jump. They expect the trend toward premium hotels to continue as FIT (independent) travel grows.
Globally? Per SiteMinder data, global hotel ADR climbed from $139 in 2019 to $192 in 2023.
2️⃣ Overseas travel platforms 👉 [full story]
TL;DR: Overseas travel platform payments double pre-pandemic levels
The story: Last December, online overseas travel platforms processed ₩1.065 trillion in payments — nearly double December 2019. For context, December 2020 (peak COVID) saw just ₩181.1 billion.
Travel agencies? December 2023 agency payments were up 26% vs. 2019 — an all-time high.
3️⃣ Hilton mobile messaging 👉 [full story]
TL;DR: Hilton rolling out mobile messaging to all properties globally
The story: Hilton announced it will deploy its mobile messaging platform across all 7,000 hotels worldwide by end of 2024. Guests can reach hotels via the Hilton Honors app, SMS, or chat apps.
Why? Post-pandemic, traveler demand for mobile communication with hotels spiked. Hilton says 70% of guests who used mobile messaging reported improved stays.
4️⃣ Homesharing perception 👉 [full story]
TL;DR: 4 in 5 Koreans say homesharing expansion needed to boost tourism
The story: In an Airbnb survey of 1,000 Koreans, 81% said expanding homesharing services is necessary to activate inbound tourism.
Previous data? That's up ~7 percentage points from the same question asked in 2022. Airbnb interprets this as growing positive sentiment toward homesharing.
5️⃣ Chinese tourist trends 👉 [full story]
TL;DR: Chinese travel to Korea shifting from group tours to FIT
The story: Chinese tourists — once dominated by group tours — are now traveling independently. The shift reflects changing demographics: core travelers are now Gen Z who prefer DIY trips.
Demand patterns? Per Trip.com, peak seasons for Chinese travelers to Korea are summer vacation, Golden Week (October), and Christmas. Korean travel is especially popular with women and those born in the '80s and '90s.