These days, it's hard to find a major platform or super app that doesn't offer travel services. Why is every big player so eager to capture travel consumers?
⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting.
In this week's Weekly ON
🏨 Why major platforms and super apps are going all-in on travel
💡 Summer vacation's here — where are people headed?
⌨️ #MayInboundTourism #HotelNoKidsZones #GenZPackages #LuxuryTourists #BarcelonaShortTermRentals
🏨 Industry Spotlight
Why Major Platforms and Super Apps Are Going All-In on Travel
- 'Book a stay, get a car — Socar' (Socar)
- 'Market heats up… Naver and Kakao join the fight' (Dealsite, 2023/12/19)
- 'Heading abroad? Try Travellog, airport lounge access on Salt Travel, currency exchange on Toss Bank's FX account or Travelers, or Kakao Bank's Dollar Box' (Edaily, 2024/06/27)
Maybe it's peak vacation season. Either way, you can't go online these days without seeing "travel" everywhere. Every site seems to feature banner ads for Japan — Korea's favorite overseas destination. As a sports-loving guy in his 40s, I'm constantly shown Major League Baseball or Premier League package tour ads.
Fair enough — targeted ads follow you around. But here's what stands out: it's genuinely hard to find a major platform or super app these days that doesn't offer travel services. The most intriguing example? Socar. As you might know, Socar started as a car-sharing platform.
Now, if you book accommodation through Socar, they'll throw in a 24-hour vehicle voucher. This isn't just a side business — the tagline "Book a stay, get a car" almost sounds like they're a lodging company that happens to rent cars too.
When you think about it, people use car rentals and car-sharing services when they travel, and the destination is usually a hotel, guesthouse, or pension. If you can handle the entire journey — transportation and lodging — in one app, it's convenient for consumers and opens a new growth channel for the company. As someone working in travel, the fact that I now open Socar before my usual booking apps feels like a meaningful shift.
Naver and Kakao are equally serious about travel. According to Open Survey's 2023 Travel Trend Report, Naver ranked as the second most-used platform for overseas travel after Agoda. Meanwhile, 'KakaoTalk Reservations' — which we covered in a previous Weekly ON — has blown past 1 million users, now sitting at over 1.158 million.
So why are all these major services fighting so hard to win over travel consumers?
👉<Read the full story>
💡 Hospitality Trends
Summer Vacation's Here — Where Are People Headed?
With peak summer vacation season almost here, where are Korean travelers planning to go?
According to data consulting firm PMI, 70.8% of respondents planning summer vacations said they'll travel domestically. Gangwon-do topped the list (31.3%), followed by Jeju (18.1%) and Busan (9.1%).
Gangwon-do's popularity has surged, while Jeju — once the go-to destination — has lost steam amid negative press around high prices and the infamous 'non-pork pork belly' scandal. Domestic visitors to Jeju from January through April were down 5–13% year-over-year.
Jeju's decline is Gangwon's gain. Consumer Insight data shows diverging trajectories: Jeju's share of planned trips fell 9 percentage points, and actual visits dropped 3 points. Meanwhile, Gangwon rose 2 points on both metrics.
Jeju, now battling a reputation for overpricing and poor service, has launched the 'Jeju Tourism Innovation Emergency Committee' to restore its image and improve tourism quality.
👉<Read the full story>
⌨️ Keyword News
1️⃣ May Inbound Tourism 👉[Read the full story]
TL;DR: 1.42 million foreign tourists visited Korea in May — 95% of 2019 levels
The story: Foreign arrivals in May surged 63.6% year-over-year to around 1.42 million, reaching 95% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
Holiday bump? May featured Japan's Golden Week and China's Labor Day holidays, which usually drive strong tourism demand. Japanese visitors rose about 50,000 from April, but Chinese arrivals dipped slightly.
2️⃣ Hotel No-Kids Zones 👉[Read the full story]
TL;DR: Hotels and resorts roll out no-kids pools
The story: As summer vacation season kicks off, more Korean hotels and resorts are declaring pools 'no-kids zones' — either by setting age restrictions or carving out kid-free time slots.
Why now? Demand for family trips abroad has grown, leaving domestic hotels and resorts with lower occupancy. They're pivoting to attract Gen Z and Millennials with the promise of a quieter poolside vibe.
3️⃣ Gen Z Packages 👉[Read the full story]
TL;DR: Niche package tours tailored to Gen Z flying off the shelves
The story: Package tours built around personal tastes are booming among people in their 20s and 30s. Highly specific themes — segmented by age group or hobby — are selling out fast.
Numbers? At Hana Tour, 20–30-year-olds made up 16% of package bookings in 2019, rising to 30% by 2022. Mode Tour saw a similar jump, from 13% to 20%.
4️⃣ Luxury Tourists 👉[Read the full story]
TL;DR: Ultra-luxury Korea tours are taking off
The story: High-end experiences that cost hundreds of thousands of won per day are gaining traction. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, around 180,000 luxury tourists visited Korea last year.
How much are they spending? Top-tier travelers — those flying first-class or private jets — spent an average of ₩21.16 million per person on 'pure experiences' (excluding transportation and shopping).
5️⃣ Barcelona Short-Term Rentals 👉[Read the full story]
TL;DR: Barcelona bans short-term tourist rentals
The story: Barcelona is cracking down on the housing crisis by banning short-term rentals for tourists. By 2028, the city plans to revoke permits for all 10,101 registered short-term apartments.
Why? Over the past decade, the surge in tourist rentals drove apartment rents up 68% and home prices up 38%.