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My Real Trip is able to withstand the long Corona 19 tunnel thanks to ‘Esperanza’ and ‘Confianza’. The faces of the employees are bright. On the 31st, the day before the new year, CEO Dong-gun Lee (center front row) and staff are drawing a “ heart on finger ” as they promise a strong start in the office of headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Reporter Huh [email protected]
“At this rate, there is exactly one year left until the company closes.”
Last April, when the situation of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) became a ‘pandemic’. Lee Dong-gun, CEO of My Real Trip, summoned more than 100 employees via video conference and said this. The facial expressions of the employees quickly distorted. The next-generation travel industry leader, the ‘icon of innovation’, who was under the envy and control of the competition, was an unimaginable power.
CEO Lee shared the company’s situation “as is.” The monthly transaction amount plummeted from 52 billion won in January last year to one billion won in April. It was at the time when the headhunters were conducting the ‘Operation to get rid of My Real Trip employees’. However, the reason Lee shared the situation was to say this. “It can be difficult right now. But if we face and overcome the crisis head-on, there will be even greater opportunities. “
“The crisis is an opportunity”
The Corona 19 recession has directly affected the travel industry. Medium-sized companies, such as NHN Travel Doctorate, Free Tour, and Lotte Tourism Development, have started to restructure. Small and medium-sized travel agencies have taken steps to close their business. 1,069 travel agencies closed as of the third quarter of last year (Korea Tourism Association).
You had to choose My Real Trip, which was on the edge of the cliff. Advice was spilled that the staff should be removed immediately. My actual journey, however, was the other way around. Not a single one was laid down. There was no leave without pay. Rather, I put in a super strong push to increase recruitment. The belief that “opportunities will come to companies that develop skills in crisis situations and prepare for the future” spread among employees.
Representative Lee said, “I tried to see the big picture. After the financial crisis of 1997 and the financial crisis of 2008, changes were noted in the travel industry. “During the financial crisis of 1997, companies that did not reduce their workforce, such as Hana Tour, quickly gained dominance in the travel industry. market in the recovery market in the immediate aftermath of the recession After the financial crisis of 2008, foreign travel companies such as Booking.com and Agoda, which aggressively expanded their business online, have emerged as dominant in the domestic market, Unlike domestic companies that weren’t prepared, this is what CEO Lee paid attention to.
Find a path in technological development
To prepare for the post-crown era, My Real Trip focused on technological development. It is about improving the function of recommending custom products based on artificial intelligence (AI). People who were thirsty to travel after Corona 19 thought they would want a denser ride. Rather than simply recommending inexpensive products, we try to build a platform that displays products suitable for travelers’ tastes by subdividing content, price, and time with advanced algorithms. To this end, the development staff was increased from 40 to 70. We also had to build a position to stop the barley pass. An alternative to fill the gap in foreign travel products was found in domestic travel. At the beginning of last year, only 700 products on Jeju Island increased to 3,000 products. “I focused on Jeju Island, which is the best destination to feel like traveling abroad,” said CEO Lee. The products of local guided tours that were experienced only in trips abroad, tourists said, ‘I feel like traveling abroad. The ability to develop “high-concentration” travel products that eliminated all bubbles, such as shopping, that consumers don’t want, showed its power in Korea. Last year, the number of products sold on a single route to Jeju Island exceeded the total number of overseas travel sales in 2019.
They also launched LAN tourism products abroad. Local guides communicate with viewers in real time and enter travel destinations. “Last year, day and night, last year was a time when company members expressed their ideas face to face,” Lee recalls. The ‘loyalty’ of more than 4,000 local guides abroad who were concerned about their livelihood became solid.
The pain we endured ‘together’, the hope that returned
The change started when investors started looking for support. Investors responded to the vision and struggle of My Real Trip. Last July, when the crown was in full swing, the company was credited with 43.2 billion won. Existing investors such as Smilegate Investments, Altos Ventures, IMM Investment, as well as new investors such as Korea Development Bank and Tekton Ventures have bet on the possibility of My Real Trip. Corporate value has increased time and time again than before the coronavirus. The message from the investment industry is that the corporate value, which was 90 billion won at the time of the previous investment, jumped to 210 billion won. An Altos Ventures official said, “My Real Trip’s capabilities and business model are stronger than anywhere else,” and “I thought that if the immediate crisis was overcome, there would be a greater opportunity.”
At this point the light of the virtuous cycle has begun to appear. My Real Trip began to actively expand its business and the situation gradually improved. Thanks to the popularity of domestic travel products and LAN tours, the monthly transaction amount increased from 1 billion won in April last year to 10.5 billion won in December. Meanwhile, the number of employees ranged from 110 to 130. AI product recommendation technology has been very advanced and, with the development of the Corona 19 vaccine, the clock until the resumption of foreign travel, which was only lazy, it’s speeding up. CEO Lee said: “The number of transactions created with domestic products will continue after Corona 19. We are confident that many domestic customers who have experienced the appeal of differentiated products will be connected with foreign product customers after Corona 19.”
My Real Trip went one step further to win-win with business partners. In November last year, he invested in Guy Drive, a ‘partner’ who planned the LAN tour together. LANSUN TOUR insisted on a paid service to alleviate the breathlessness of local guides who had a livelihood. Generally, starting a service is the opposite of launching a free service to acquire users. CEO Lee said, “I have to live together to create greater synergy and pursue a bigger dream.” “I will be with my partners until the end of Corona 19.”
Reporter Mingi Koo [email protected]
