Why Japan's Largest Travel Platform Chose Korea's Largest Travel Startup

Japanese Kabuki-style 'HafH' Korean Startup HeroWorks Strategic Investment
"Will Serve as a Bridge for Korea-Japan Travel Through Accommodation Business Competitiveness Enhancement Solutions"

HeroWorks Accommodation RMS Data Amenity Usage Image. Photo by Kabuk Style

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As travel demand, which was suppressed during the COVID-19 period, surges, the Japanese travel market is experiencing a boom. Drawing attention to this market reopening, a Japanese company has made a strategic investment in a domestic travel startup, attracting industry interest.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation Information Portal on the 7th, the number of passengers using the Incheon-Kansai (Osaka) route via domestic airlines in November reached 173,067. This figure represents a 21% increase compared to November 2019 (143,362), before COVID-19. During the same period, passengers on the Incheon-Fukuoka route were also recorded at 129,541, a 2% increase compared to 2019 (126,901).

With the skies reopening and demand surging, a Japanese travel company has made a strategic investment, focusing on the technological capabilities of a Korean RMS (Room Management System) company. RMS is a digital solution used by accommodation providers such as hotels and motels to manage sales and profits by utilizing various data including market status, usage and fluctuation trends, and demand forecasts.

KabuK Style, which operates Japan's largest travel subscription platform 'HafH (Home Away from Home)', announced on the 7th that it has made a strategic investment in HeroWorks, Korea's largest RMS system company. HeroWorks developed Korea's first RMS, 'DataMenity', based on big data in 2021 and currently serves over 300 accommodation facilities including hotels and resorts as clients.

Kenji Sunada, CEO of Kabukustyle.

Kenji Sunada, CEO of KabuK Style, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 6th, “Through the investment in HeroWorks, we aim to provide customized services for Korean tourists preparing to travel to Japan,” adding, “We predict that cross-border transactions, which were halted due to COVID-19, will recover to pre-pandemic levels and the market will grow further.”

HeroWorks' 'DataMenity' has attracted attention as a B2B RMS that allows users to check room price information for each accommodation listed on OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) and respond to individual reviews. Clients can grasp room price information across OTAs at a glance, optimize their own room prices, and automate previously manual document work such as investigating price information and organizing it in Excel, which has received strong positive feedback from users.

HeroWorks is especially recognized for leading the digital transformation of the accommodation industry by providing an integrated system that includes not only the RMS system?allowing accommodation providers like hotels and motels to manage sales and profits using various data such as market status, usage and fluctuation trends, and demand forecasts?but also a Property Management System (PMS) for room management and business operations, and a Channel Management System (CMS) for managing sales channels including online travel agencies.

CEO Sunada plans to strengthen HafH’s system, which has strengths in user experience (UX), and to actively enter the Korean market through this investment. He explained, “HafH has grown by breaking away from the conventional OTA practice where accommodations are listed when users set and search for travel destinations and advertising products are displayed at the top, instead recommending a small number of customized accommodations and respecting users’ lifestyles.”

This investment by KabuK Style was triggered by a meetup arranged by the Korea International Trade Association’s Startup Overseas Expansion Office in June. CEO Sunada, who paid attention to the technological capabilities of Korean startups, said that both companies agreed on business expansion potential through the meetup, which soon led to the strategic investment.

He emphasized, “Through this investment, we will not limit ourselves to business between Korea and Japan but will build a system that leads the digital transformation of global accommodation facilities by combining HeroWorks’ RMS with KabuK Style’s travel platform.” Planning subscription services for accommodation and airlines, CEO Sunada expressed his ambition, saying, “Our ultimate goal is to assist the digital transformation to maximize profits for the accommodation industries in both Korea and Japan through the linkage of HeroWorks’ RMS services.”