There is something about Jeju, South Korea that makes you think about depth. Perhaps it is the sea that stretches endlessly beyond the island’s volcanic coastline. Or perhaps it is the haenyeo, the island’s legendary women divers who slip quietly beneath the water without oxygen tanks, holding their breath as they descend several metres into the ocean to search for abalone and sea treasures.
Watching them disappear beneath the waves, it becomes clear that the good things rarely sit at the surface. They require patience, instinct and sometimes a willingness to go deeper.
That image stayed with me while listening to conversations at an Airbnb forum recently held in Seogwipo, Jeju. Not because anyone was talking about diving, but because the discussion itself felt a bit like that. It was an attempt to look beyond the surface of tourism and into the mechanics of what makes people stay somewhere.
For years, the language of tourism development has revolved around scale. Visitor numbers, flight connectivity, hotel inventory and marketing reach are the metrics that often dominate the conversation. The formula is familiar. Attract more visitors, build more infrastructure and expand capacity.
But the discussion at the forum, titled “Every Corner of Korea: Spaces, Experiences and People That Make Us Stay Local,” seemed to circle around a different question.
Instead of asking how to bring more visitors, the speakers repeatedly returned to something simpler and perhaps more difficult to answer.
Why do people stay and travel?
Not visit for a few hours, not tick a destination off a list, but stay long enough to experience the rhythm of a place and leave a meaningful impact on the community.
Spaces, content and people
Lyla Seo, Country Manager, Airbnb Korea: “Three reasons for people to stay.”
For Lyla Seo, Country Manager of Airbnb Korea, the answer lies in three ingredients. “For people to stay in a region, there must be a clear reason,” she said. “A space people want to stay in, content that enriches that space, and people who bring that place to life.”
Spaces. Content. People. It sounds almost obvious when said aloud. Yet as the discussion unfolded, it became clear how rarely these three elements align naturally.
A destination might have beautiful landscapes but lack compelling experiences. It might have interesting stories but nowhere comfortable or memorable to stay. Sometimes the people who give life to a place are invisible to travellers.
When these elements do not come together, travel becomes brief and transactional. People visit. They do not stay.
When domestic travel starts looking the same
One of the starting points for Airbnb’s interest in regional tourism comes from observing how domestic travel in Korea currently works.
The Korea Rural Tourism Report surveyed 1,000 Korean travellers about their domestic travel habits. The findings painted a picture that many Koreans would recognise immediately.
Domestic travel is active, but highly concentrated.
Destinations such as Gangwon Province, Busan and Jeju dominate the domestic tourism map. Travellers often follow similar routes and accommodation patterns. Hotels and resorts account for roughly 70% of accommodation choices, leaving relatively little room for alternative types of stays.
Travel motivations also show a clear pattern.
About 64% of respondents say food is the main reason they travel domestically.
That makes sense in a country where culinary culture runs deep. Yet the result is that many trips begin to resemble each other. A journey built around a handful of famous restaurants, a night in a hotel and a quick return home.
Seo described this phenomenon as a quiet form of standardisation in domestic travel.
Travellers visit the same restaurants, stay in the same hotels and circulate through the same destinations. And when experiences begin to feel repetitive, the value of domestic travel can start to feel less compelling.
One of the more interesting observations she shared was the paradox that many Koreans recognise. People are often willing to travel overseas, sometimes across continents, yet hesitate when it comes to travelling within their own country.
“The issue is not necessarily distance,” Seo explained. “It’s whether the time and money spent feel worth it.”
When domestic travel becomes predictable, curiosity fades.
And yet domestic travel already forms the backbone of regional tourism in Korea. According to the discussion at the forum, more than 90% of trips to non-urban areas are made by domestic travellers themselves, many coming from major cities such as Seoul. The challenge, therefore, is not attracting foreigners first, but making regional travel compelling enough for locals to explore their own country more deeply.
The bread pilgrimage: Small is mighty
And yet sometimes the smallest experiences can reshape travel behaviour in surprising ways.
During her presentation, Seo shared the story of Daejeon, a city not usually associated with tourism.
But among younger travellers in their 20s, something unexpected has been happening. People have begun travelling to Daejeon specifically to visit Sungsimdang, a well-known local bakery.
Seo referred to the phenomenon with a smile, “A bread pilgrimage.”
The bread pilgrimage to Sungsimdang, a local bakery.
People travelling hours for bread might sound whimsical, but it reveals something about how travel decisions increasingly happen today. Often, it begins with a single reason. A dish, a shop, a story or a place with enough character to draw curiosity.
Seo calls these experiences anchor content. Something distinctive enough to give travellers a reason to visit somewhere that might otherwise sit outside the typical tourism map.
What makes the bakery story even more interesting is what Sungsimdang did not do. It did not expand into a nationwide chain. It remained exactly where it began.
Which means if you want the bread, you have to travel to Daejeon.
In a way, that reverses the traditional logic of tourism development. Instead of exporting the brand outward, the destination becomes the magnet.
In fact, the small local bakery reportedly recorded around ₩62 billion (about US$46 million) in annual sales, outperforming major chains like Tous Les Jours in operating profit despite having only a handful of stores in Daejeon while the chain operates more than 1,000 outlets nationwide.
It is a quiet reminder that sometimes small is mighty.
Accommodation: The quiet gatekeeper of travel
Of course, curiosity alone does not guarantee travel. Another factor quietly determines whether trips actually happen – accommodation.
In rural destinations especially, accommodation often determines whether travellers stay overnight or simply pass through. According to Airbnb’s research, 88% of Korean travellers say accommodation is the most important factor when planning a trip. Yet many travellers report difficulty finding options that feel worth the cost.
The survey found that 54% of respondents believe accommodation lacks value for money, while 46% say it is difficult to secure rooms during peak seasons.
When accommodation becomes too limited or too expensive, trips begin to shrink. Overnight stays turn into day visits. Regional travel becomes a quick stop rather than an immersive experience.
Sharon Chan: “Accommodation doesn’t just support rural tourism. It determines whether it happens.”
As Sharon Chan, Airbnb’s Communications Director for Asia Pacific, noted during the forum, “Accommodation doesn’t just support rural tourism. It determines whether it happens.”
Across Asia Pacific, Airbnb surveyed 7,000 travellers on rural travel behaviour. Nearly nine in 10 had visited non-urban destinations in the past year, and 90% said they would like to do so again.
Airbnb also found that 92% of Korean travellers said it is difficult to find or book domestic accommodation options, while 43% specifically faced challenges securing places to stay in more rural destinations.
Across Asia Pacific, 70% said they would be more likely to visit rural areas if suitable accommodation options were available.
In other words, the appetite to explore beyond major cities is already there. The real question is whether the right kinds of places exist for travellers to stay in and how that growth can be sustained in a way that benefits local communities.
Looking beneath the surface
By the end of the forum, the conversation had circled back to the same three elements Lyla mentioned earlier – spaces, content, people.
The bakery in Daejeon shows how powerful local content can be. A small shop rooted in its hometown quietly becomes a reason for travellers to move across the map. What begins as curiosity about a loaf of bread can turn into an entire journey.
But content alone rarely sustains travel.
For people to stay longer, there must also be spaces that allow them to linger — places to sleep, wake up slowly, and feel comfortable enough that leaving does not feel urgent.
And then there are the people.
Because the moments travellers remember most rarely come from infrastructure alone. They come from encounters. A host sharing breakfast. A conversation with someone who knows the place intimately.
Which brings the thought back to the image that first came to mind in Jeju.
The haenyeo– for generations, these women have shaped the island’s relationship with the sea, turning knowledge, resilience and daily life into something visitors come to witness.
In many ways, this reflects Airbnb’s broader thinking in rural destinations — building the spaces where travellers stay, supporting the local stories they come to experience, and keeping the soul of the place rooted in the people who call it home.
