“The era of 30 million foreigners visiting Korea is coming” Uber Airbnb’s tough CEO prediction

“The era of 30 million foreigners visiting Korea is coming” Uber Airbnb’s tough CEO prediction

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The deficiency of the Corona Era is the demand of the future. While the world was cut off by the Corona 19 virus, BTS, Black Pink, and director Bong Joon-ho put their travels in Korea on a bucket list from all over the world. How much will the waiting demand for Korea travel accumulated like this?

Hee-Seok Son Interview with Airbnb Korea Representative
“Private spaces such as houses and villas will be the flow of travel”

Hee-seok Son (44), the CEO of Airbnb Korea (country manager), who met on the 3rd, called 10 million more than the government’s goal of last year (20 million). “The era of 30 million foreign tourists will open,” he said. He also emphasized that “the approach must be completely different from when the goal was to attract 20 million tourists, mainly from Chinese and Japanese.” The interview took place for about two hours at the Joongang Ilbo headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

An interview with Airbnb Korea representative Son Hee-seok was held at the JoongAng Ilbo in Sangam-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of the 3rd. Reporter Lim Hyun-dong

An interview with Airbnb Korea representative Son Hee-seok was held at the JoongAng Ilbo in Sangam-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of the 3rd. Reporter Lim Hyun-dong

Representative Son was appointed as the representative of Airbnb Korea in March last year. Travel platform Expedia Korea (representative) and Uber Korea (business manager) have passed. From online travel agency car sharing to accommodation sharing… These are startups that pose a threat to traditional industries.

Representative Son said, “It was better to influence people’s real life than to manufacture heavy equipment or the solar power business, and while in Uber, I felt that the sharing economy is a business model that will lead the next 10 to 30 years.” The following is one question and one answer.

“K-Pop·K Defense…Korea has become’the country I want to come to'”

The role of the Korean branch of a global company is often limited to marketing or sales. What can an Airbnb Korea representative do?
Airbnb is a global platform. The main task is to find the attractiveness of Korea, refine it into content, and receive investment from the headquarters.

If you give a concrete example.
The’Inside K-Pop’ experience held at the end of January this year is representative. It was planned by Airbnb Korea, and the head office was in charge of the event. It was an event to introduce a total of 19 online experience contents for a week by inviting domestic K-pop stars, hair and makeup artists, and dance teams. Visitors from 27 countries around the world gathered (limited to 20 people per experience). 50-60% of these are from North and South America. It was an opportunity for the headquarters to directly confirm the global impact of Korean culture, including K-pop.

Airbnb's K-pop idol Alexa's dance class held in January. [사진 에어비앤비코리아]

Airbnb’s K-pop idol Alexa’s dance class held in January. [사진 에어비앤비코리아]

Until then, the head office was not familiar with this kind of content in Korea… .
It is meaningful that the headquarters has confirmed the power of Korean culture, which was vaguely regarded, by numbers this time. These days, Airbnb employees around the world first come up with the story of’Kingdom (Netflix Original)’ or the movie’Parasite’. Even when looking at overseas surveys, Korea consistently ranks in the top 10 in’the country I want to visit after the coronavirus’.

There are two axes. One is Korean pop culture. K-pop like BTS and Black Pink and Korean movies like Parasite are keywords that draw attention. This interest leads to the desire to go to Korea and experience the culture firsthand. Another axis is Korea’s ability to respond to Corona 19, which is called’K Prevention’. After the coronavirus, the quarantine system is bound to become an important criterion for choosing a destination. It is believed that the awareness gained through K quarantine will also play a role in the tourism industry in the future.

Airbnb's K-Pop Idol'The Boyz', held in January, made a bead bracelet. [사진 에어비앤비코리아]

Airbnb’s K-Pop Idol’The Boyz’, held in January, made a bead bracelet. [사진 에어비앤비코리아]

“An opportunity to create 30 million tourists in the next 3 to 5 years”

Will interest lead to actual visits?
The next three to five years will be the crossroads of whether Korea will leap forward as a world-class tourist destination. Has Korean content ever received such global attention before? It is quite different from the 2000s and 2010s. Honestly, when planning this K-pop online experience, I thought there would be many Chinese and Japanese visitors. But it wasn’t. More than half are from North and South America. These are potential customers who are really willing to visit.

What is the potential demand?
When the government set a goal of attracting 20 million foreign tourists early last year, the demand for America and Europe was not that much (17.5 million foreign tourists in 2019, Korea Tourism Organization). Now is the time to prepare for the era of 30 million overseas tourists.

Since the number of foreign tourists will increase rapidly, are you talking about activating Airbnb more?
The entire Korean tourism industry will benefit. I don’t think Airbnb should absorb all the benefits. However, it is clear that the trend of preferring a quiet and private travel destination to a noisy tourist destination is clear. Private spaces such as residential areas and villas provided by Airbnb, and fun experiences unique to Korea such as making kimchi are expected to be popular.

An interview with Airbnb Korea representative Son Hee-seok was held at the JoongAng Ilbo in Sangam-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of the 3rd. Reporter Lim Hyun-dong

An interview with Airbnb Korea representative Son Hee-seok was held at the JoongAng Ilbo in Sangam-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of the 3rd. Reporter Lim Hyun-dong

Although it activates tourism… “The system restricts competition”

Currently, it is illegal for Koreans to use Airbnb’s home accommodations, except in the Eup, Myeon, and Ri areas. This is because of the’foreign tourist city guesthouse business’ system established in 2011. The main point is that Korean homes are restricted to foreigners’ experience, but in fact, it has been made into serpentine. This is because Airbnb accommodations are popular in downtown downtown areas such as Gangnam and Hongdae, as well as resort areas such as Jeju and Gangwon. There is also criticism that the sharing economy is used as a basis for reverse discrimination against Koreans because of the old regulations that are far from the trend of the times.

Taking this into account, the government has been pushing for a new system called’shared guesthouse business’ since 2019, but criticism remains. Koreans are allowed to stay, but it must be a house where the landlord resides (no vacant houses), and business days are limited to 180 days per year. The possibility of realizing even this is uncertain as there is intense opposition from the existing lodging industry such as motels.

Let’s talk about regulation. The discussion has been at rest for the second year.
Consensus is difficult due to the entanglement of various interests. I think three principles are important. First, to increase consumer utility, competition must be promoted. The second is to discuss based on accurate facts, such as what type of accommodation tourists prefer. The third is that we have to look at it from a long-term perspective. The situation has changed a lot from the time when the government aimed to attract 20 million tourists. When the corona is over, it has to accommodate 30 million tourists. What kind of systems and vessels should be made to make Korea remain a good experience and memory for them.

Is the shared private house business a special regulation unique to Korea?
Airbnb has a presence in 191 countries. Different countries have different approaches. The 180-day limit is a Japanese regulation, which was benchmarked by the Korean government. However, in Japan (unlike Korea) there is no requirement to live. Empty houses can also be used for Airbnb. It is unfortunate that discussions are flowing in the way of restricting competition in Korea.

At Airbnb's headquarters in San Francisco, California, there is a sign saying'We miss the trip too'. [사진 에어비앤비]

At Airbnb’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, there is a sign saying’We miss the trip too’. [사진 에어비앤비]

Reporter Kim Jung-min [email protected]

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