--- title: "October Airbnb Shock: 60,000 Listings Gone Overnight?!" description: "The true scale of Airbnb's 'business registration mandate' and its impact on the market" published: 2025-07-21T00:00:00+00:00 author: "ONDA 편집팀" category: "Weekly ON" image: "https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/687f63ef759b50fc9c175c2f_WeeklyON_vol154_webflow_cover_1200px.png" canonical: https://global.onda.me/en/blog?slug=weeklyon-vol-154 locale: en --- # October Airbnb Shock: 60,000 Listings Gone Overnight?! ⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting. --- #### **This week's Weekly ON** 🏨 October Airbnb Shock: 60,000 Listings Gone Overnight?! 💡 IT Expert Choi Hwi-young Named Minister Nominee for Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ⌨️ #MyRealTrip IPO #ONDA AI #Yeogi Eottae packages #Global OTA business registration #K-tourism surge --- **🏠 Industry Story** ### **October Airbnb Shock: 60,000 Listings Gone Overnight?!** When [Airbnb announced its 'business registration mandate' policy in Korea last July](https://v.daum.net/v/20240927203102792), my first thought was: "This is going to shake things up. But if all these listings disappear, where will tourists actually stay?" It wasn't just another compliance announcement — the ripple effects looked too big to ignore. This was a **seismic decision that could fundamentally reshape Korea's vacation rental market**, already worth over ₩1 trillion annually. ### **The scale of the shock — and what it means for the market** Here's the situation: As of 2023, Korea had over 73,000 Airbnb listings, with [annual GMV exceeding ₩1.1 trillion](https://www.yanolja-research.com/insight/view/11?lang=en). The problem? **Between 70% and 90% of these operate without proper business registration** — they're 'unlisted accommodations.' According to Yanolja Research, while Airbnb transactions hit ₩1.13 trillion in 2022, only ₩21.7 billion in VAT was reported to the National Tax Service. International precedents show what happens when unregistered listings get purged. [When Japan implemented its minpaku law in 2018](https://www.hankyung.com/article/2018031662676e), **listings crashed 80% — from 62,000 to 13,800** — and only 2,000 out of 150,000 bookings were legal. The most extreme case? [2023 New York](https://skift.com/2023/09/13/airbnbs-nyc-listings-fall-77-big-hotelier-sees-tailwind/), where host-occupancy rules and tough enforcement **wiped out 92% of short-term rentals, driving hotel prices up 7.4%**. ![(Source: Airbnb)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/687ca43dcce3054941aac0e0_KakaoTalk_20250716_162632390.png) The biggest storyline in Korea? **Officetel listings in Seoul's hottest districts — Gangnam, Hongdae, Jongno — are set to vanish en masse from Airbnb come October 2025.** It's structurally inevitable. Under Korean building codes, officetels are classified as 'business facilities,' but accommodation business registration requires 'lodging facilities' — officetels simply don't qualify. The Supreme Court already ruled in 2016 that ["Airbnb in officetels is illegal."](https://www.ilyo.co.kr/?ac=article_view&entry_id=220420) This leaves officetel hosts facing an existential crisis. Their entire business model just collapsed. Most are individual operators running multiple officetels on modest capital — leased or owned. Now they're scrambling to pivot to long-term leasing or reinvent themselves as party room venues. But that's a completely different business: different customer base, different marketing channels, different operations. The transition won't be smooth. Travelers will feel it too. Fewer listings mean less choice and higher prices. Budget travelers who relied on affordable downtown stays will get hit hardest. Airbnb's core appeal — 'unique stays at reasonable prices' — is about to shrink dramatically, **pushing travelers back to traditional hotels or alternative platforms**. So who actually wins in all this chaos? And what does Korea's accommodation industry look like after the dust settles? ### 👉[****](https://www.onda.me/blog/10weol-eeobbiaenbi-syokeu-dangjang-6mangae-sugsoga-sarajinda?utm_source=stibee&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-2025_07_21) --- **💡 Hospitality Trends** ### **IT Expert Choi Hwi-young Named Minister Nominee for Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism** [**👉\[Full story\]**](https://www.econovill.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=703520) **TL;DR:** IT and platform specialist tapped to lead Korea's cultural policy in the AI era. **The story:** Choi Hwi-young, a veteran IT and platform executive, reported for his first day as Minister Nominee for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 14th, declaring: "I'll review culture, arts, sports, and tourism through a fresh lens for the AI era." Born in 1964, Choi started as a journalist for Yonhap News and YTN, then joined Yahoo Korea before landing at NHN (now Naver) in 2002. He climbed to CEO and helped steer Naver through its growth years. In 2016, he founded the travel platform Triple, which Yanolja later acquired and merged with Interpark to form 'Nol Universe,' where Choi served as co-CEO. His career spans media, IT, and tourism — making him a rare hybrid expert. "Korean culture and arts have achieved remarkable things," Choi said. "I want to harness that, strengthen our cultural foundation, and propel K-culture forward by fusing it with technology." The gaming industry is cautiously optimistic. Given Choi's time running NHN's gaming division, insiders hope he'll tackle live issues like WHO's gaming disorder classification and follow-through on loot box disclosure rules. "He's been in the trenches," one industry source said. "We're expecting regulatory reform and real industry support." But the arts community is wary. Culture Alliance noted: "His résumé skews heavily IT and tourism. Can he craft integrated policy across the ministry's vast portfolio?" Choi deflected: "I'll elaborate during the confirmation hearing." --- **⌨️ Keyword News** **1️⃣ MyRealTrip IPO** [👉\[Full story\]](https://www.ebn.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1669465) **TL;DR:** MyRealTrip preps to become Korea's first publicly listed OTA. **The story:** Travel platform MyRealTrip is gearing up for its IPO. Targeting a ₩1+ trillion valuation, it plans to finalize lead underwriters by month-end. No Korean OTA has successfully gone public before — making this attempt a litmus test for the sector. **2️⃣ ONDA AI** [👉\[Full story\]](https://www.traveltimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=413486) **TL;DR:** ONDA launches AI insights for small-scale accommodations. **The story:** Hospitality AI firm ONDA released the beta of 'Pension Plus ONDA AI,' bringing AI-driven revenue management to small lodgings like guesthouses and pensions. Until now, these tools were luxury hotel territory. ONDA's democratizing big data analytics for the mom-and-pop tier — a signal that AI's reach is spreading across the travel industry. **3️⃣ Yeogi Eottae Packages** [👉\[Full story\]](https://www.mk.co.kr/news/culture/11364157) **TL;DR:** Yeogi Eottae enters the crowded package tour market. **The story:** Yeogi Eottae officially launched package tours under the brand 'Yeogi Eottae Tour.' CEO Jung Myung-hoon said the move is customer-driven: "When people travel with friends or family, they often prefer the ease and all-inclusive nature of package tours. Our users kept saying, 'We wish you offered packages' — so we did." **4️⃣ Global OTA Business Registration** [👉\[Full story\]](https://www.traveltimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=413481) **TL;DR:** Korean travel industry calls foul on unregistered global OTAs. **The story:** Global OTAs operating without Korean travel business registration are drawing fire from domestic players, who say they're facing reverse discrimination. Only a handful — Trip.com, Klook, Expedia — have registered. Korean OTAs must display all-inclusive pricing upfront (taxes, fees included), but some global platforms use 'dark patterns,' showing low base prices and hiding add-ons until checkout. Unregistered platforms also dodge travel insurance requirements, creating consumer protection blind spots. **5️⃣ K-Tourism Surge** [👉\[Full story\]](https://www.newstap.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=308365) **TL;DR:** Foreigners flock to Korea for 'K-life care.' **The story:** Inbound tourism platform Creatrip released its H1 2025 trends, coining the term 'Care-cation' (K+Care+Vacation). Medical tourism bookings jumped 207%, hair services 147%, and beauty 45%. From lash extensions to personal color consultations, K-beauty's detail obsession is pulling travelers in — alongside vision correction and dermatology procedures. K-pop content bookings also rose 49%. Tourists aren't just sightseeing anymore; they're embedding themselves in Korean lifestyle rituals — a shift toward 'immersive travel.' ---