"Yanolja and Synergy Exceed Expectations... Targeting Japanese Market This Year"

Interview with Cheon Kyung-hoon, Co-CEO of Sanha Information Technology

Cheon Kyung-hoon, Co-CEO of Sanha Information Technology.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] In the past, when visiting leisure facilities such as motels, hotels, resorts, and golf courses, people used to search through local phone directories or call 114 to make reservations. However, nowadays, reservations and payments can be completed within seconds by just a few taps on a website or application. There are even facilities where you can check in with your smartphone without going to the front desk and control heating and cooling systems. The era when AI robots provide room delivery services and housekeeping is not far off.

Sanha Information Technology is a company that has been leading the "digital transformation of spaces" by providing IT solutions to leisure facilities. Established in 1994, Sanha Information Technology offers a lineup of solutions covering the entire process of leisure facility usage, including Property Management System (PMS), Room Management System (RMS), Booking Engine (BE), Channel Management System (CMS), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). As the number one company in the domestic hotel and resort PMS market, it supplies solutions to over 1,000 clients both domestically and internationally, including major Korean hotels and resorts such as The-K Hotel and Lotte Resort, as well as clients in Vietnam, Japan, and Indonesia.

Sanha Information Technology was acquired by the leisure platform company Yanolja in January 2021. Recently, at Sanha Information Technology’s headquarters in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Co-CEO Kyunghoon Cheon said that the synergy with Yanolja over the past two years has been greater than expected. CEO Cheon previously worked in consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company before joining Yanolja Cloud, a Yanolja subsidiary, as head of the solution business group in 2019. Since February last year, he has been serving as co-CEO of Sanha Information Technology alongside CEO Hakgi Son. Cheon stated, "The combination of Sanha Information Technology’s technical capabilities and Yanolja’s rapid market adaptability is producing optimal synergy," adding, "We are expanding our business stage by creating and launching new business models that would have been impossible for the two companies to achieve independently."

Hotels using Sanha Information Technology’s solutions are automatically linked to the Yanolja platform, which has a cumulative subscriber base of 65 million. CEO Cheon explained, "Previously, hotel managers had to manually enter room information and sales prices on Yanolja’s online platform, but now, integration with Sanha Information Technology’s solutions has made related tasks much easier," adding, "Not only Yanolja but also Interpark, 11st, Coupang, and global online travel agencies (OTAs) are linked with Sanha Information Technology’s CMS, enabling very easy room sales through various channels."

Cheon Kyung-hoon, Co-CEO of Sanha Information Technology, is being interviewed by this publication.

There are also cases where Yanolja’s technologies and sales networks, such as unmanned solutions, kiosks, and Internet of Things (IoT), have been provided to Sanha Information Technology’s customers to reduce labor costs and enhance visitor convenience. Shiwon Resort on Jaeun Island, Sinan, is a representative example. This resort is equipped with Yanolja Cloud’s keyless door lock and IoT solution 'WiFlux GRMS' (Guest Room Management System). Guests can check in and out via mobile without RF card keys, and control lighting, temperature, and appliances in the room through mobile and voice commands. CEO Cheon said, "We are currently discussing installing solutions like those at Shiwon Resort in hotels affiliated with major domestic conglomerates," adding, "There is high interest, with several proposals already coming from hotels affiliated with Korea’s top 30 conglomerates."

CEO Cheon mentioned that since the transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to endemic, travel demand has revived, leading to increased inquiries about Sanha Information Technology’s solutions. He predicts a 10% growth this year compared to last year. However, he also acknowledged that due to the global economic downturn, hotels are cutting costs, which limits the profitability of past business models. Cheon said, "In the past, our solutions were subscribed to on a monthly fixed fee basis, but now we are gradually shifting to a revenue-based model," adding, "We are considering this in the spirit of sharing pain with our clients and plan to develop more diverse business models going forward."

CEO Cheon plans to focus on two main goals this year: 'expanding profitability' and 'reducing costs.' To increase revenue, they intend to significantly enhance unmanned business and CMS performance. For cost reduction, they plan to launch a product combining keyless door locks and mobile concierge services within this year. Cheon expressed confidence, saying, "Customers who previously only used PMS and CMS will be able to purchase new services turnkey-style all at once," adding, "Buying all services at once will lower service construction costs and greatly improve usability compared to purchasing individual services separately."

Following Southeast Asia, they plan to actively target the Japanese market this year. In 2019, Sanha Information Technology introduced the leisure facility-dedicated network system and solution brand 'CoreCast' in Japan in partnership with Japanese leisure facility IT solution company Netsys Japan. CEO Cheon emphasized, "Due to the Japanese government’s policy to attract foreign tourists, hotel demand is expected to surge," adding, "Currently, 53 hotels in Japan use CoreCast, and our goal is to increase that number to 100 by the end of this year."