Kakao VX's 'Exciting Golf Service'

Various Benefits Offered to Kakao Golf Reservation Users
Green Fee Discounts and Insurance Benefits for Last-Minute Tee Times
4.5 Million Visitors Last Year, 1.2 Million Tee Times Connected

Kakao VX provides various services for users of the Kakao Golf Reservation platform.

Starting in April, a paid policy will be implemented that charges about 3% commission on golf course sales. A Kakao Golf Reservation official explained, "The commission income will mainly be used to offer green fee discounts and insurance benefits to more users, and some will be used for service operation costs." Other golf reservation services also charge tee time commissions. In the intermediary service industry, accommodation sectors such as Yanolja and Hotels.com charge commissions of 10-20% of the payment amount.

It is known that Kakao VX recorded an operating loss of 10 billion KRW last year. Kakao VX emphasized, "We decided to implement paid services to provide more discount benefits to users and to increase golf course sales." Kakao VX is preparing to launch new services such as ‘Last-Minute Tee Time’ to offer users greater green fee discounts.

Domestic regional golf courses are highly anticipating the paid service of Kakao Golf Reservation. They can attempt marketing that is difficult to do on their own and are actually benefiting in terms of sales. A representative from a golf course in Jeollado said, "Although the transition from free to paid service is not welcome, the key issue is not the paid service itself but whether it is accompanied by sufficient sales increase," adding, "We are satisfied as customers from the metropolitan area visit during the off-season through the free shuttle bus operated by Kakao Golf Reservation since January this year, boosting sales."

A representative from a golf course in Chungcheongdo said, "Regional golf courses, which have to compete hard with overseas golf courses, need to continuously receive reservation app services to defend their sales. We believe that a paid service equivalent to credit card fees is not excessive." The Kakao Golf Reservation platform operated by Kakao VX facilitated visits by 4.5 million golfers to golf courses in 2023, mediating about 900 billion KRW in golf course sales. Last year, it connected 1.2 million tee times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.