[Photo] Gangnam Palace Hotel Closed for Business

As the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause financial difficulties for the hospitality industry, the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul, closed its doors on the 1st. This hotel, which began as Banpo Palace Hotel in 1982 and was Gangnam's first luxury hotel, saw its sales drop by 40% year-on-year to 16.9 billion KRW in the first to third quarters of last year amid the spread of COVID-19. Operating losses surged from 1.9 billion KRW to 8.6 billion KRW. The Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam was acquired by real estate developer The Land for 350 billion KRW, and it is reported that the hotel will be demolished to develop luxury residential apartments./Reporter Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@