--- title: "2023 Hotel Sale Festa: The Data Roundup" description: "Korea's government-backed hotel discount program has become the industry's biggest annual event. What did last year's numbers reveal?" published: 2024-05-14T00:00:00+00:00 author: "ONDA 편집팀" category: "Weekly ON" image: "https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/6642f97e4bd14a9f32f52ed0_WeeklyON_vol122_webflow_cover_1200px.png" canonical: https://global.onda.me/en/blog?slug=vol-122 locale: en --- # 2023 Hotel Sale Festa: The Data Roundup Hi there — welcome to Weekly ON, your hospitality newsletter. Have you tried Korea's Hotel Sale Festa yet? I used it for a domestic trip last year. What started as an economic stimulus program has become the lodging industry's signature annual event. So how did 2023 perform? ⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting. --- #### **In today's issue** 🏠 Hotel discount program results and regional trends 💡 Airbnb's future and 11 cultural icon stays ⌨️ #JuneTravelMonth #GlobalChainExpansion #NonTravelPlatforms #EcoFriendlyPush #JejuForeignTourists --- **🏨 Industry Spotlight** ### **Hotel discount program results and regional trends** Since 2020, Korea's government-backed hotel discount program has run annually to boost domestic tourism and consumer spending. Last year it rebranded as the "Korea Hotel Sale Festa." The program has become the lodging industry's biggest yearly event. So what did the data show? And what patterns emerged across regions and property types? ### **2023 Hotel discount program performance** Across three rounds — spring (May–June), Chuseok holiday (Sept–Oct), and fall (Oct–Nov) — **1.303 million coupons were redeemed** in 2023's Hotel Sale Festa. Those bookings generated roughly 3.11 million domestic trips. The program drove ₩180.8 billion in accommodation spending and ₩522.6 billion in total travel expenditure. ![Source: 2023 Hotel Discount Program Impact Study and Performance Analysis Final Report](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/6641db871cef4daa137b4b18_2.jpg) ### **Coupon use: Hotels and motels 80%, pensions and resorts 20%** **Younger travelers booked more aggressively.** Gen Z and Millennials (ages 20–39) accounted for roughly 70% of all coupon redemptions. However, average room rates booked by travelers in their 30s and 40s — who often travel with young children — were significantly higher. The most popular property types were motels (49.9%) and hotels (32.9%). **Eight out of 10 coupons went to hotels or motels.** Pensions (13.6%) and resorts/other (3.5%) had lower shares — but in absolute terms, **pensions and resorts still generated around 220,000 bookings** through the program alone. Also worth noting: motels are heavily concentrated in the Seoul metro area. **Preferred property types vary significantly by region** — so national averages don't tell the full story. Let's zoom in on regional trends. ### 👉[**<2023 Hotel Sale Festa Data Roundup>**](https://www.onda.me/blog/2023-sugsepe-deiteo-yoyag-zip?utm_source=stibee&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-2024_05_14) --- **💡 Hospitality Trends** ### **Airbnb's future and 11 cultural icon stays** On May 1, Airbnb held a media day in Los Angeles and unveiled 11 unique "Icons" properties — lottery-based bookings at unusual cultural landmarks. The same day, [travel industry publication Skift published an interview with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky](https://skift.com/2024/05/01/airbnbs-chesky-talks-icons-paid-memberships-and-who-benefits-from-his-billion-dollar-payday-full-interview/?utm_campaign=New%20Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8HX8lCv76ZvZUIi2xuSTGK4V3sFgjUYIq13fTF6-BXMr6nH0b24oP0hpjdrXyFZ87x2LGJhjXmKiEXCE2CjwMaPZZ83A&_hsmi=305247968&utm_content=305242293&utm_source=hs_email), offering clues about where the platform is headed. **Loyalty programs... paid membership YES, points NO!** Chesky told Skift: "We will never have a points program. I hate that stuff. The best way to get people to come back is to make sure the place they stayed was awesome." **Airbnb will eventually launch a loyalty program — but not a points scheme.** Instead, Chesky cited Amazon Prime as inspiration. Prime (think Coupang's Rocket Wow membership) bundles free shipping, returns, hot deals, and Prime Video streaming into a paid subscription. We don't know when Airbnb's paid membership will arrive — but it won't just be discounts on stays. Just as Prime solves e-commerce pain points (shipping costs, returns hassles), **Airbnb's program will likely ease friction in travel** — though exactly what that means is still unclear. Chesky also discussed Guest Favorites, AI concierge services, and Icons properties in the interview. Read the full breakdown below! ### [👉****](https://www.onda.me/blog/eeobiaenbiyi-miraewa-11gosyi-keolceo-aikon?utm_source=stibee&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-2024_05_14) --- **⌨️ Keyword News** 1️⃣ **June Travel Month** [👉\[full story\]](https://www.traveltimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=408331) **TL;DR:** June Travel Month distributes 250,000 hotel coupons **The story:** This June, Korea's Travel Month campaign returns. Like the March edition, it offers discounts on rail, flights, attractions, activities, and accommodation. **Lodging angle?** 250,000 hotel discount coupons will be issued throughout June — valid only at properties outside the Seoul metro area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon excluded) to boost regional tourism. 2️⃣ **Global chain expansion** [👉\[full story\]](https://www.hankyung.com/article/2024050578301) **TL;DR:** Global luxury chains planning new Korean hotels **The story:** Korea is becoming a battleground for international hotel brands. Marriott, Aman, Rosewood, and other global chains are accelerating Korean expansion. **Why?** Korea's hotel industry underwent massive restructuring during the THAAD standoff and COVID years. Now that inbound tourism is recovering, supply shortages loom. Seoul has fewer luxury hotels than most major global cities — a gap foreign brands see as opportunity. 3️⃣ **Non-travel platforms** [👉\[full story\]](https://www.etnews.com/20240508000197) **TL;DR:** Non-travel platforms' hotel GMV keeps climbing **The story:** Mobility apps, closed membership malls, portals, and e-commerce platforms are moving deeper into hotel bookings. Q1 2024 hotel GMV from non-travel platforms rose 38.13% YoY vs. 2023 and 112.59% vs. 2022. **Why?** Hotel inventory helps platforms lock in users and capture product + customer data. Expect more non-travel players to keep entering the space. 4️⃣ **Eco-friendly push** [👉\[full story\]](https://www.ajunews.com/view/20240508221149635) **TL;DR:** Korean hotels rolling out eco-friendly services and packages **The story:** Korea's hotel industry is joining the sustainability wave — launching green services and packages to support guests' value-driven consumption. **Examples?** Beyond swapping toiletries, hotels are adopting eco-friendly uniforms and creating guest experiences that let travelers participate directly in environmental initiatives. Each property is finding its own angle. 5️⃣ **Jeju foreign tourists** [👉\[full story\]](https://www.traveltimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=408255) **TL;DR:** Jeju foreign arrivals surge, but spending per visitor drops **The story:** Q1 2024 saw roughly 360,000 foreign tourists visit Jeju — 6x the prior year — yet average monthly spending per visitor fell YoY. **Why?** Cruise passengers, who spend less time on the island and often don't book hotels, now make up a larger share. Cruise tourists accounted for 32% of Q1 foreign arrivals to Jeju — more than double last year's proportion. ---