Yanolja Research

How much do hotel room rates change throughout the year in South Korea? Hotel room rates show a clear seasonal pattern. Nationwide hotel ADR (Average Daily Rate) remained relatively low from April to June 2025 before rising sharply in July and peaking during the summer travel season. Rates moderated afterward, but continued to fluctuate at elevated levels through early 2026. These monthly movements illustrate how closely hotel pricing responds to shifts in travel demand throughout the year. Explore the latest lodging industry trends—including ADR, OCC, and RevPAR—on the Yanolja Research Data Lab dashboard. [Yanolja Research DataLab] Lodging industry performance indexes Dashboard

How South Korea’s International Aviation Market Is Shifting Amid Middle East Uncertainty Geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East has added new pressure to the global aviation market. Rising fuel costs, higher passenger surcharges, and changing route economics are influencing how airlines allocate capacity. In South Korea, however, the emerging picture is not one of broad market contraction . Instead, growth is becoming increasingly differentiated across airlines, routes, and regions. Fuel Costs Rose Quickly. Aviation Supply Is Adjusting More Gradually. Restrictions affecting the Strait of Hormuz drove a sharp increase in jet fuel prices. Prices rose approximately 83% in just three weeks , from USD 2.43 per gallon to USD 4.45. Six months later, prices remained around 44% above the pre-conflict level . The impact subsequently reached travelers: International fuel surcharges increased to roughly three times their March level in April . Surcharges rose again in May before declining fro...

What makes a tourism city truly attractive? The 2026 Yanolja Attractiveness Index looks beyond infrastructure and visitor numbers to evaluate tourism cities from the traveler’s perspective—how cities are perceived, experienced, and remembered. The framework breaks Tourism City Attractiveness into 4 dimensions and 17 sub-dimensions: 🌿 Beauty & Natural Scenery Natural scenery and phenomena · Flora and fauna 🏛️ Culture & History Historical places · Educational places · Traditional culture · Religious attractions · Architectural and aesthetic attractions 🍽️ Experiential Content Food · Accommodations · Shopping · Theme parks · Nightlife · Sports · Activities · Festivals and events 🤝 Hospitality Friendliness of local residents · Friendliness of service providers The key idea is simple: tourism attractiveness is not merely the sum of a city’s resources. Nature and culture provide things to see, experiential content creates things to do, and hospitality shapes what travelers ultima...

South Korea’s Tourism Market Enters a New Phase in H1 2026 South Korea’s tourism market showed a notable shift in the first half of 2026. Inbound tourism reached a new high, outbound travel approached pre-pandemic levels, and the tourism balance improved sharply. Behind the headline numbers, several structural changes are emerging—from more diversified inbound demand and regional gateways to the growing role of high-value tourism and changing outbound travel patterns. Inbound Tourism Reaches a New High Foreign tourist arrivals reached 10.71 million in H1 2026 , the highest level recorded for any first-half period. That represents: +21.3% year-over-year +26.9% compared with H1 2019 Continued monthly strength after arrivals surpassed 2 million in March Growth was also broad-based. Asian arrivals exceeded pre-pandemic levels, while demand from the Americas, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa continued to expand. China, Japan and Taiwan Drive Strong Growth China remained Korea’s ...

Q2 2026 South Korea Lodging Performance Improved Acroos All Property Types  South Korea’s lodging market recorded broad-based growth in Q2 2026, with RevPAR improving across every major property type compared with Q2 2025. Occupancy growth generally outpaced ADR growth, indicating that demand recovery—not room-rate increases—was the primary performance driver. Key highlights: • 5-star hotels led the market with RevPAR up 32.2%, supported by a 21.6% increase in occupancy. • Vacation rentals and resorts followed with RevPAR growth of 22.4% and 20.7%, respectively. • The overall hotel/resort segment recorded ADR growth of 6.0%, occupancy growth of 9.1%, and RevPAR growth of 15.6%. • Pensions also returned to positive RevPAR growth, as higher occupancy offset a decline in ADR. The findings suggest that inbound tourism growth and seasonal demand recovery strengthened lodging performance across both premium and mid-to-lower-priced segments. For further details and the full analysis, plea...

 What Makes a Global Tourism City Stand Out in 2026? Global tourism competition is changing. Being famous still matters—but visibility alone is no longer enough . What increasingly separates leading destinations is their ability to turn recognition into positive experiences: memorable food, culture, activities, scenery, service, and hospitality. In other words, the cities that stand out are not simply those travelers know. They are the cities travelers know and love . Two Forces Shaping Tourism-City Attractiveness A destination’s position in the global tourism market can be understood through two complementary dimensions: Awareness: How widely is the city recognized and discussed? Attractiveness: How positively do people evaluate and feel about the city? Awareness helps a destination enter travelers’ consideration sets. Attractiveness helps turn that attention into satisfaction, recommendations, repeat visits, and lasting attachment. The key point: A city can be highly visible wi...