Top-tier hotels in Korea are ramping up competition over gift sets ahead of the Lunar New Year. Rather than stopping at brokering regional specialties such as premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, dried yellow croaker, and fruit as in the past, they are now pushing front and center their own private-label (PB) products, including hotel-planned home meal replacements (HMR) and household goods. The strategy is to secure stable sales regardless of fluctuations in room demand while commercializing the "hotel experience" to broaden brand touchpoints.
According to industry sources on the 4th, Lotte Hotel & Resorts said the previous day it will offer a "braised short rib" gift set for the first time in this year's Lunar New Year lineup. Lotte Hotel has steadily built out a diverse food-and-beverage PB lineup in recent years, including kimchi, prime LA galbi, 1+ grade premium Hoengseong premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, and Jeju coastal silver hairtail and tilefish.
It also rolled out the paid hotel membership "TREVI CLUB Activiel" as a Lunar New Year gift product. The experiential package includes access to fitness centers and saunas at seven domestic chains, including Signiel and Lotte Hotel, making it possible to gift hotel services.
Walkerhill Hotel & Resort strengthened its household-goods PB lineup by unveiling the "Walkerhill Prestige Towel Set," created in collaboration with world-renowned visual artist Jason Atienza. Hotel Shilla prepared as many as 143 different gift sets for this Lunar New Year. Among them is the "Shilla Gift Bear keyring." The Shilla Bear keyring is a steady seller, and for the holiday, it was produced with a design of the Shilla Bear holding a gift box.
Josun Hotels & Resorts is also focusing on diversifying categories. It prepared the "Club Josun VIP Membership," worth 4 million won, as a holiday gift, while offering the steady seller "Josun Hotel kimchi" in various set configurations. Holiday products that once centered on ingredients now span hotel memberships and in-house food-and-beverage PB.
The hotel industry has long operated Lunar New Year and Chuseok offerings centered on premium ingredients such as premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, and dried yellow croaker. Recently, however, PB products that apply hotel chefs' and pâtissiers' recipes or place the hotel brand front and center have emerged as mainstays. This shift gained full momentum around 2020. With room demand becoming more volatile after COVID-19, hotels turned to food-and-beverage and lifestyle products that can deliver relatively stable sales.
Initially, living PB such as diffusers and bedding infused with hotel-signature scents appeared first, but the scope has since expanded rapidly. For example, Lotte Hotel & Resorts runs the premium bedding brand "Heon," and Hanwha Hotels & Resorts (The Plaza) operates the living brand "P-Collection." Josun Hotels & Resorts also greatly broadened categories from room bedding to bakery through "Josun Taste & Style." Hotel gift sets that were once mere souvenirs have recently been reorganized into standalone branded products spanning household goods and home meal replacements (HMR).
In this way, the hotel sector is expanding a lodging-centered revenue structure across the full spectrum of lifestyle. In particular, the Lunar New Year and Chuseok are periods when corporate gifts and premium personal demand converge. Hotel PB products have the advantage of simpler cost structures than lodging and can concentrate sales in a relatively short period. They also draw in customers who have not experienced the hotel brand, delivering strong marketing effects. Beyond simply selling goods, the aim is a brand lock-in effect by planting the hotel's tastes and scents inside customers' homes to drive future stays.
Some hotels first gauge consumer response with Lunar New Year gift sets, then officially launch well-received products to build year-round lineups. Josun Hotel kimchi is a representative case. An industry official said, "Today's hotel PB has evolved beyond simply slapping a hotel logo on ready-made goods into dedicated product lines that apply exclusive hotel recipes and unique specifications," adding, "The exclusivity of being able to buy them only at that hotel is a key factor that heightens the scarcity of holiday gifts."