ONDA's subsidiary ONDA & Ssong takes over operations of Grandbay Naksan, a beachfront hotel in Yangyang, Gangwon-do, starting July 25th
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In this week's Weekly ON
🏨 Yangyang Grandbay Hotel: Up to 30% Off Peak Summer Season
💡 How to Never Fail in Hospitality: A First-Time Owner's Playbook
⌨️ #HotelConstructionDelays #TravelLoyaltyPrograms #OnlineTravelShopping #KoreaSpecificServices #PensionSalesGuidebook
🏨 Industry Talk
Yangyang Grandbay Hotel: Up to 30% Off Peak Summer Season
Hey Weekly ON readers! Today we're coming to you with a company announcement. But if you're planning a trip to Gangwon-do, this might actually be useful advertorial content.
Our subsidiary ONDA & Ssong is taking over operations of Grandbay Naksan — located right on Naksan Beach in Yangyang, Gangwon-do — starting July 25th 🙂
The official name is "Grandbay by Ssota Suites." We're rolling out our top-tier Ssota Collection brand (Ssota Suites) to deliver best-in-class service. The property features 436 rooms across 8 types, plus an infinity pool, sky lounge, guest community center, and more.
Too much preamble? Let's cut to what matters: the deal. Book through our <official booking page> and you can snag entry-level rooms from ₩160,000 for stays July 25 – August 4. Prices vary by room size and view, but we promise the best value compared to similar properties nearby.
Now for the hospitality tech angle: why Grandbay by Ssota Suites matters. This hotel runs on the ONDA Fulfillment System.
ONDA Fulfillment is essentially FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) for hotel inventory. Just like Amazon handles pick, pack, ship, returns, and CS for sellers, we handle on-site operations, distribution, and guest services for hotel owners and unit buyers. We recently piloted this at Boutique Hotel Konkuk Ssota Stay, where revenue doubled in three months.
The core of ONDA Fulfillment is digital transformation tech. Our SaaS PMS integrates with kiosks, smart locks, and most IoT devices, slashing on-site labor to ⅓ of traditional levels. Grandbay runs on OA PMS.
For distribution, we're deploying ONDA HUB — our next-gen channel manager. One contract connects you to 50+ domestic and international OTAs, with consolidated monthly settlement regardless of channel count.
Our Channel Ops, HotelPlus, and CS teams run promotions across all channels to maximize revenue. Guest services are handled by a team averaging 10+ years in hospitality. ONDA and its subsidiaries own the full stack — online distribution and on-site operations.
Starting with Grandbay Naksan, ONDA & Ssong will roll out ONDA Fulfillment across ~2,000 rooms including ▲Busan Seomyeon Prugio City Signature ▲Busan Songdo Heaven the View ▲Pyeongtaek Godeok Trabant Prugio City. Stay tuned as we transform hotel operations 🙇♂️
👉<Book Grandbay by Ssota Suites Now>
💡 Hospitality Trends
How to Never Fail in Hospitality: A First-Time Owner's Playbook
What's the most important thing for successful property operations? Room upkeep, guest service, market research, pricing strategy — plenty of candidates.
If you're running solo, covering everything is impossible. Unless you can clone yourself, you need to focus on what matters most and what you're best at.
We spoke with the owner of Stay Seorae, who nailed it on their first go.
"I think customer service is the most important thing in hospitality. If I hadn't adopted contactless check-in, I'd be stuck at the front desk. Automation freed up my time — and I use it for guests."
👉<How to Never Fail in Hospitality>
⌨️ News in Brief
1️⃣ Hotel Construction Delays 👉[Full Story]
TL;DR: Major Korean hotel and resort projects postponed
The story: New hotel and resort projects are stalling due to skyrocketing construction costs. Operators are hitting pause or delaying launches planned for this year.
What's next? Instead of buying land and building from scratch, companies are pivoting to asset-light models — more management contracts, fewer capital-intensive builds.
2️⃣ Travel Loyalty Programs 👉[Full Story]
TL;DR: Tailored package tours resonate with Gen Z and Millennials
The story: Travel agencies and OTAs are doubling down on loyalty programs ahead of peak summer season — aiming to lock in repeat customers and attract new ones.
Hotels too? Brands are consolidating siloed property-level programs into unified loyalty schemes. Systemwide membership overhauls are becoming the norm.
3️⃣ Online Travel Shopping 👉[Full Story]
TL;DR: Travel services see online GMV surge
The story: Online shopping GMV hit ₩20.9 trillion in May, up 7.7% YoY. Mobile shopping reached an all-time high of ₩15.5 trillion (+7.8% YoY).
Top categories? Food & beverage led at +13.9%, followed by travel and transportation services at +11.4%. Online and mobile travel bookings continue climbing.
4️⃣ Korea-Specific Services 👉[Full Story]
TL;DR: Global OTAs launch Korean-language customer service centers
The story: Global OTAs are opening dedicated Korean CS centers and rolling out localized services to capture surging outbound travel demand from Korea.
Why? Korean travelers rely heavily on phone support. 76% of inquiries in Korea come via phone — far higher than other markets.
5️⃣ Pension Sales Guidebook 👉[Full Story]
TL;DR: ONDA publishes sales guidebook for indie lodging operators
The story: ONDA released a guidebook to help pension and pool villa owners navigate the complex online booking ecosystem. It covers everything small operators need to know to sell rooms online.
Get it here: Free download at the Pension Plus homepage.