Booking group led the south Korean economy hotel $180 million financing platform

South Korean couples hotels and Booking platform operators Yanolja recently obtained by the Booking Holdings group and Singapore sovereign fund GIC brought $180 million of financing.Yanolja CEO, Kim Jong il - yoon said, its valuation has been more than 文章 billion (788 million pounds).

According to the Crunchbase ranges data, the company had previously raised $60 million.In 2017, bloomberg reported Yanolja company valuations by more than $500 million.

Yanolja and Booking a Agoda Holdings group cooperation is established.

Kim says Yanolja plan to IPO in the next year at the earliest.

In hotel brands emerge in endlessly, short rent platforms such as someone whose face regulatory industry environment, lovers hotel services occupy a unique market share.

Couples hotel and extramarital affairs, sex, and often hidden cameras event hooks, in the public mind the impression is not friendly, moreover couple hotels are often filled with fancy decorations and dim light, make the situation worse.

Yanolja couples joined type hotel is bright, modern decoration style is adopted transformed traditional couples the inherent image of the hotel in the heart, its target customers include the millennial generation couples and short seeking cheap rental service customers.

Kim said, "after a lot of people are too embarrassed don't want to get to the hotel a couple, but Yanolja has attracted a lot of passengers, this is the biggest change."

Yanolja founded at the beginning of the hotel's location is couples online search sites, and access to the hotel the platform, low-cost rental housing and room service, price range covers 50000 won ($42) every night of budget hotels "ben-hur" to 200000 won ($169) a night of hyatt five-star hotel.

Tourism hanyan university, Seoul, professor Lee Hoon said, "the motel Yanolja has broken the traditional concept, but at present domestic market also is not big enough to Yanolja only to expand the size of the market to survive. Global"

Yanolja aims to expand the hotel market of southeast Asia, the company invested in Singapore last year budget hotel booking platform Zen Rooms $15 million, to start the competition with OYO.OYO current investors including reality and softbank corp.

Kim said, "Yanolja longed so much for going global market."

A major shift

Yanolja was founded in 2005, Lee, founder of the Su - jin had earlier is lovers hotel housekeeper and service personnel, Yanolja then gradually developed into a couple of hotel operators advertising platform to contact for more new customers, in 2004, South Korea after the prostitution laws through the operators lost a lot of customers.

Yanolja set up 10 years later became the first announced transformation for the mobile end booking Yanolja own brand hotel brand platform, hotels and other couples after couples hotel guests won't guest mainly depends on shop.

Yanolja to the target customer group to the low budget travelers both at home and abroad, and in South Korea, short rent platforms such as an audience is mainly foreign passengers.Limit Korea will enable China to Korea, on the other hand, travelers fell, the hotel room inventory then shifted Yanolja access platform, make houses have proliferated.

Reuters quoted market research firm Euromonitor, according to the data in the five years ending in 2018, the south Korean online travel sales almost doubled, to $21.8 billion.Euromonitor data show that nearly half of the total sales of tourism from the mobile terminal, proportion ranked third in the world.

Kim said the Yanolja income rose last year nearly doubled, to 188.5 billion won ($160 million), but overall is still in the red.Kim said the company will be the latest in an IPO in 2022.

Yanolja plan using technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of things increase inventory and improve operating efficiency.Kim think couples hotel the development of this field is still relatively conservative.

Who worked for McKinsey, 3 m and Google Kim said, "South Korea and overseas accommodation market size, there is a huge opportunity for change, the current is only the beginning."