Interview Booking.com appealing to Koreans with distinction

By Kang Seung-woo

Amid an ever-growing appetite for travel-loving Koreans to get away, an increasing number of global online travel agencies (OTAs) have been flocking here to encourage use of their platforms.

Booking.com, one of the leading travel e-commerce companies in the world, is no exception. The Amsterdam-based firm joined the hard-fought Korean market in 2012.

However, Justine Lim, the newly appointed Northeast Asia regional manager at Booking.com, exuded confidence that her company has some selling points that differentiate it from other global and local players.

“When we just look at the Korean major players, they are more likely focusing on Korean products. But for us, as a multinational company, we actually provide a variety of global selections,” Lim said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, last week.

“When they come to our platform there are more benefits they can choose ― Korea, Paris, Las Vegas and wherever they want to go. And competition is everywhere, but what we can offer is more and different types of properties to customers.

“I would say diversity of combination ― choice, breadth and selection. Definitely that is our very strong selling point.”

According to Booking.com, in terms of property listings, it has 28 million listings globally and it also has 30 different property category types, including hotels, resorts, and even tree houses and igloos.

In Korea, the company has 5,300 bookable properties.

“In terms of variety of selection or the customer's perspective, I think we are one of the leading OTAs in Korea and at the same time, we provide convenience for customers to book and cancel, and who are also looking for the variety of selections,” she said.

As Lim stressed, it offers a free cancelation and pay-at-the-property policies ― unique features for global travel agencies.

“So, you could book right now for your trip to Tokyo next week. You book the property, paying nothing now to us and then when you get to the property, stay and pay the property directly, which is not the case with a lot of other OTAs,” she said.

“Because of the setup we have, it also means if I can't go to Tokyo anymore and I need to cancel, that is also available to you. So we are kind of an intermediary between you and the property so I think that's quite a good differentiator ― something we know customers really love. It's flexibility when it comes to booking and payment.”

As the Korean travel industry is increasingly important for global OTAs, Booking.com is ramping up its marketing efforts here. Last week, the company held its first-ever press conference in Seoul.

When its Korean office was established seven years ago, it was small with five people, but the number has expanded to 160. Plus, it now runs two regional offices ― in Busan and on Jeju Island ― along with a 24-hour customer service center.

“These are the fundamentals of the business and this is what is super important to us and makes it accessible to Koreans to get the biggest amount of choices,” she said, adding that the company has been focusing on the Korean market "amazingly" for the last seven years.