Korean CEO Who Received Golden Visa in UAE: "Making Tourism Smarter"

Lee Woonghee, CEO of H2O, Leads Digital Transformation of Hotels in Korea and Abroad
"Middle East Has Abundant Liquidity, But Collaboration with Governments Is Essential"
"Trust with Government Officials, Global Competitiveness, and Local Contribution Are Key"

Lee Woonghee, CEO of H2O Hospitality (hereafter H2O) (pictured), relocated his entire family to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) one year and three months ago. He made this significant decision to use the UAE as a strategic base for a full-scale entry into the Middle East and North Africa markets. In the process, he also obtained a 'Golden Visa,' which allows him to reside in the UAE for 10 years.

Lee Woonghee, CEO of H2O, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Founded in 2015, H2O develops solutions that transform offline services in accommodations, leisure facilities, airports, and more from analog to digital. In Korea, notable examples include Parnas Hotel, Nine Tree Hotel, and Oak Valley Resort. To date, H2O's solutions have been applied to approximately 300,000 rooms cumulatively.

With H2O's solutions, guests can easily check in remotely using social networking services (SNS) such as KakaoTalk, and hotel chains can integrate their previously separate operating systems. By eliminating the hassle of signing in and receiving keys at the hotel front desk, guest satisfaction has increased. Client companies not only reduce labor and operating costs but can also collect and analyze various traveler behavior data for business purposes, achieving a win-win outcome.

The smart transformation initiatives of H2O were a perfect match with Middle Eastern countries that are fostering their tourism industries. In an interview with The Asia Business Daily in Dubai on September 25, Lee said, "Since last year, we have been receiving support from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds," adding, "Currently, the Middle East is the region with the most abundant liquidity." This year, H2O achieved a milestone by introducing its smart check-in solution at the Westminster Dubai Mall Hotel.

Lee shared his secret to success, saying, "We emphasized our ability to contribute to the digitalization of the Middle Eastern tourism market and to help secure tourism data." He added, "To survive competition with leading companies from the United States, China, and Europe in the global market, we focused on the keyword 'smart tourism.'"

Regarding the background of entering the Middle East, he explained, "H2O is one of the early investment companies of SparkLabs, and Hanju Lee, CEO of SparkLabs, is also an entrepreneur with successful experience in the Middle Eastern market through Bespin Global."

However, the initial attempt to enter the Middle East was not without challenges. It took more than a year from the start of discussions with ADIA about investment support to actually signing the contract. Had we insisted on the Korean 'ppalli-ppalli' (hurry-up) mindset, it would have been difficult to achieve such results. It was necessary to adapt to the relaxed and long-term perspective characteristic of Middle Eastern culture.

Lee repeatedly emphasized, "There is a misconception that Middle Eastern investors make investment decisions easily because of oil money, but in reality, global competitiveness and local contribution are extremely important." He also advised, "To enter the Middle East, collaboration with local governments (B2G) is essential, and building highly trusted relationships with key government officials is also crucial."

In conclusion, Lee stated, "The global tourism market is worth 2,000 trillion won. Of this, the digitally transformed travel preparation market, mostly through online payments, accounts for 700 trillion won, while the analog market, where data is not yet secured because travel occurs offline, is worth 1,300 trillion won." H2O, which is pursuing the digitalization of the tourism industry, is now targeting the global 1,300 trillion won market.

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