"In the past, we mostly set reservation prices and operating direction by intuition, but now we make decisions based on data. After receiving banking-sector consulting, we systematized everything from review management to platform exposure strategy, and our sales increased by 155%."
Choi Eun-young, who runs 'Seoul Ari,' a hanok lodging business for foreign guests in Jongno, Seoul, said this Monday about the biggest change since participating in the Korea Federation of Banks' "joint banking-sector small business consulting" program.
Drawing on her long experience in the service industry, Choi opened the hanok lodging business Seoul Ari in Jongno in February last year. She focused on the growing number of foreign tourists and rising demand for K-culture.
But the early operations were not easy. There were many factors to consider, including seasonal changes in reservation rates, review management, platform exposure, and taxes, but she had to rely mostly on experience and intuition. "In the lodging business, average room rate, reservation rate, and review management are all connected, but I had never analyzed them systematically," Choi said. "I felt the need to build a stable operating structure over the long term."
The turning point was the Korea Federation of Banks' joint banking-sector small business consulting program. Choi applied after seeing the recruitment notice in December last year and received customized consulting for about two months. The consultant analyzed the lodging operation methods, reservation channels, cost structure, and commercial district data, and proposed introducing an operating system based on key performance indicators (KPIs).
In particular, the review management strategy translated into results. Choi set a separate target for securing reviews from January to March this year and obtained about 20 new reviews. As the frequency of exposure on lodging platforms and the effect reflected in algorithms increased, reservation rates also rose. "Previously, I couldn't spend much time on review management, but after setting it as a KPI, the operating priorities themselves changed," she explained. "As reviews accumulated, platform exposure naturally increased, and reservation inquiries also rose quickly."
The actual figures improved as well. Seoul Ari is currently among the top 5% of lodgings on the booking platform. Sales increased by about 150-155% compared to before the consulting. The vacancy rate was also lowered to below 10%.
The business also strengthened services tailored to foreign customers. Seoul Ari places domestic brand products such as Korean cosmetics, diffusers, and ceramics in its rooms and offers welcome gifts tailored to the characteristics of customers by country. Recently, it has also been conducting experiential marketing in collaboration with a domestic cosmetics brand. Currently, foreigners account for about 90% of Seoul Ari's guests.
The business also built a response manual by organizing about 20 cases of inquiries and disputes that frequently occur in the process of dealing with foreign customers. By establishing a standard response system for inquiries about facility use, airport transfers, and luggage storage requests, customer response time was shortened from around one hour to about 10 minutes. "What small business owners need is not just simple funding support, but operating know-how and data-based consulting that can be applied in the field," Choi stressed. "I hope that practical support programs connecting operating data management with branding, taxes, and marketing will expand in the future."
