Kakao Launches 'Hotel Reservation Gift Certificates' on KakaoTalk Gift Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] Kakao announced on the 13th that Commerce CIC has launched hotel reservation gift certificates on KakaoTalk Gift.

They are offering gift certificates for 4- to 5-star hotel reservations in the metropolitan area and major tourist cities. About 25 popular hotels, including Seoul Shilla, Lotte, Chosun, Hyatt, and Paradise Hotel & Resort, have joined. The number of hotels available for reservation will be gradually increased to 50 by the 16th.

Previously, to gift a hotel stay, one had to purchase a paper gift certificate and deliver it or go through the cumbersome process of asking the recipient for their stay schedule and making the reservation on their behalf. However, with the hotel reservation gift certificates on Gift, the sender can easily gift online without burden, and the recipient can book the hotel according to their preferred schedule.

The hotel reservation gift certificates can be self-purchased or gifted by selecting the hotel brand, branch, and room type in the hotel reservation category within Gift. The recipient of the gift certificate can press the "Book Stay" button in the gift box, enter the gift certificate number, select the desired date, and make a reservation.

Various hotel package products will be introduced in the future. In line with the spread of the "Small Luxury" trend enjoying hotel dining and bakery, gifts combining hotel stays and food & beverage (F&B) will be launched. To preserve memories of a "hokangseu" (hotel vacation), each hotel’s goods will also be sold.

A representative from Gift said, “We launched the hotel reservation gift certificates for users who want to gift hotel vouchers for special occasions. Since both the gift sender and recipient can conveniently purchase and use the gift certificates, we expect many Gift users to show great interest.”