Booking.com to focus on Asian juggernaut

Area manager Chris Kim gives an overview of Booking.com's efforts in Korea at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. [BOOKING.COM]

For now, Booking.com is focusing on Korea and Asia.

The travel platform has seen significant growth so far this year, exceeding that of the pre-Covid era with its 2023 second-quarter revenue surpassing that of 2019. The revenue of its parent company Booking Holdings saw a 27 percent on-year increase to $5.5 billion during the April-to-June period.

The biggest growth was in Asia with a 40 percent increase in room nights, while Booking.com as a whole showed only a 9 percent increase in room nights in the second quarter of this year compared to that of last year.

“Looking at the growth figures in the second quarter, the Asian region, including Korea, has a very strong presence and Booking.com plans to further accelerate the growth of the Asian market,” area manager Chris Kim told the press on Tuesday during the platform’s media day at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung District, central Seoul. “These numbers, paired with the global attention on Korean culture, means our headquarters view the Korean market as a very promising one.”

Booking.com plans to offer more K-culture and K-pop-related travel packages, such as its most recent one with K-pop star Kang Daniel. However, it could not name a specific celebrity or cultural event that it plans to work with during the media day.

The "Ultimate K-pop Experience in Seoul," which concludes Saturday, includes a two-night stay at lifestyle hotel RYSE in Mapo District, western Seoul, as well as K-culture-related activities such as passes to a live K-pop music show, an idol makeover and a K-pop dance session. Those lucky enough to have booked the package were also given albums autographed by Kang.

Booking.com data showed that most searches and bookings in Korea were from Japan, followed by Taiwan, the United States, Singapore, Germany, Australia and Hong Kong.

In Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the search counts for Korea compared to those from the same quarter last year shot up 617 percent, 2,162 percent and 851 percent, respectively.

For Koreans, Japan was the most popular travel destination, followed by Thailand and Vietnam.

Kim also revealed Booking.com’s plans to launch a one-stop AI planning tool where users can plan and book their entire trip - including flights, rental cars and activities - on the platform. The service is currently being tested in Europe and the United States.

“We consider ourselves a digital tech company as well as a travel agency,” Kim said. “Once the program has been tested, we plan to offer this service where our users can communicate with AI to very easily and comprehensively plan their trips.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]