"Increased Domestic Travelers Due to COVID-19... 20% Rise in Accommodation Business Startups"

188 New Lodging Businesses Opened Nationwide in Q3, 35 More Than Same Period Last Year
Active Lodging Startups in Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] In the third quarter, the number of lodging business startups nationwide, including Gangwon-do, increased by more than 20% compared to the same period last year. This is analyzed to be due to the increase in domestic travelers as overseas travel became difficult due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 1st, the Commercial Information Research Institute analyzed statistics from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and found that the number of lodging businesses started in the third quarter of this year was 188. This is an increase of 35 cases (22.9%) from 153 cases in the same period last year.

The region with the highest increase in lodging business startups nationwide compared to the same period last year was Gangwon-do. In the third quarter, lodging business startups in Gangwon-do were 42 cases, up 19 cases (82.6%) from 23 cases a year earlier. Next, Gyeonggi-do increased by 9 cases (33.3%) from 27 to 36 cases.

However, there were also four regions where lodging business startups decreased compared to the previous year. In Jeonnam, the number of lodging business startups in the third quarter was 18, down 8 from 26 in the same period last year. Following that, Daegu decreased by 2 cases, and Daejeon and Chungbuk each decreased by 1 case.

Additionally, four regions including Seoul (4 cases), Busan (9 cases), Ulsan (0 cases), and Jeonbuk (3 cases) recorded the same number of lodging business startups as last year.

When subdividing the country into eup, myeon, and dong, the region with the most lodging business startups in the third quarter was Yeongheung-myeon, Ungjin-gun, Incheon. In this area, there were 37 lodging business startups in the third quarter alone. This was followed by ▲Gapyeong-eup, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (24 cases) ▲Seomyeon, Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do (21 cases), and so on.

These areas are densely populated with individual lodging facilities such as pensions and glamping sites, and it is estimated that the number of individual lodging business openings increased as tourists who want to avoid direct contact with many people increased.

Researcher Hyuntaek Cho of the Commercial Information Research Institute explained, "Recently, overseas travel has become virtually impossible, leading to a relative increase in domestic travelers," adding, "As a result, lodging businesses within domestic tourist destinations have enjoyed an unexpected boom."

He continued, "For this reason, lodging business startups in tourist areas such as Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do have increased," but analyzed, "However, except for some famous tourist spots, some lodging businesses are suffering due to the COVID-19 virus, so it is difficult to say that the lodging industry as a whole is a booming market."