Chinese investment is making a strong move into South Korea’s leisure and travel industries, expanding beyond gaming and media. One major focus is now the travel market, especially hotel and flight bookings. With heavy financial support, Chinese companies are working to gain ground in Korea’s relatively small but growing tourism sector.
Trip, China’s largest online travel agency, is leading this effort. Backed by Trip Group, the platform is attracting South Korean users by offering hotel and airfare deals that are cheaper than those of local competitors.
A recent example highlights this trend. A 40-year-old office worker named Lee booked a one-night stay at a five-star hotel in central Seoul through Trip for 390,000 won. On other booking sites, the same room was priced at more than 450,000 won. With Trip.com’s discount coupons, Lee saved nearly 60,000 won—a much larger discount than the usual 10,000 to 20,000 won difference between platforms.
This strategy appears to be working. According to mobile analytics firm IGAWorks, Trip had the most travel app downloads in South Korea this January, with 340,000 new installs. South Korean apps Yeogi Eottae and Yanolja came in second and third, with 280,000 and 220,000 downloads respectively.
Trip’s aggressive pricing and growing popularity signal a major shift in South Korea’s travel booking market, as Chinese companies gain a stronger foothold in the country’s leisure economy.
