South Korean startup ONDA has signed a tourism-focused memorandum of understanding with Dunqian International, a Taiwan-based smart hotel group.

The agreement facilitates the distribution of Dunqian's hotel inventory through South Korean online sales channels and aims to provide South Korean tourists with hospitality experiences at competitive prices, thereby stimulating increased tourism demand in Taiwan.

South Korea is a significant source market for Taiwan’s travel and tourism industry, with 550,000 visitors in 2023. This accounts for 6.9% of Taiwan's total foreign tourist base.

Dunqian International CEO Wu Bing-ting commented: "Our vision revolves around providing a sustainable and innovative hospitality experience. We are excited to provide Korean tourists with memorable experiences in Taiwan.”

The hotel group has nine brands and 53 hotels, totalling more than 4,000 rooms across a diverse range of accommodation from family resorts to business hotels. In 2023 it expanded its footprint to Japan and is now progressively extending its reach to northeast Asia.

In mid-2023, Taiwan’s Department of Information and Tourism launched a campaign to attract tourists from Singapore and Malaysia.

ONDA CEO Hyun-seok Oh stated: “We are committed to continuously introducing high-quality hotels and accommodations in global tourism destinations to the Korean market.”

ONDA covers around 70% of the domestic online accommodation booking market in Korea and is recognised as Airbnb's first preferred partner and Google Hotel's first partner in Korea.