By Nayoon Kim

Brand, Space, Value, Story, and Meaning

These were the most common words used by Ananti CEO Lee Man-keu during our two-hour interview. Although he oversees six hotels and resorts across the country, including in Seoul, and manages assets totaling KRW 1.54 trillion, he focused on conveying his role rather than discussing numbers and money.

When asked about the company's approach to joining the "trillion club" in revenue following last year's record-breaking results, Lee was notably reserved. He firmly believes that Ananti's growth is not merely a numerical expansion but the perfection of 바카라 사이트 추천s brand value.

Ananti's growth is unusual, even within the hotel industry. After entering the leisure business in 2004 with an initial investment of KRW 3 billion, Lee launched Ananti Namhae in 2006, followed by properties in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do (2016), Gijang, Busan (2017), Gangnam, Seoul (2022), and Gujwa, Jeju (2023), setting the brand apart from the conventional approach to hotel operations. By incorporating a large bookstore on the main floor of the hotel lobby to create a complex cultural facility, a seaside promenade, an infinity pool connected to the surrounding nature, and private room designs reminiscent of yachts, the hotel has charted a 'different path' from the monotony of existing chain hotels.

As Ananti approaches its 20th anniversary, it is set to enter the 2024 Fortune 500 Korea at No. 375, with sales of KRW 897.3 billion and an operating margin of 29.8 percent (KRW 267.1 billion) as of last year. Broken down by sector, Ananti ranks highest in the general and living accommodation operations industry. The company has successfully positioned itself as a premium hotel brand in an environment dominated by global chain brands.

Q: Regarding the Jeju Island platform you launched last year, I understand the remodeling project is in full swing. Why did you choose Jeju Island as the location for Ananti, which is already saturated w바카라 사이트 추천h hotels and resorts?

Whether Jeju is saturated w바카라 사이트 추천h leisure businesses or not doesn't matter to us. We chose Gimnyeong, Gujwa-eup, because we believe 바카라 사이트 추천's a special place. Ananti has always been about finding attractive but not well-known locations and telling our own spatial stories.

Everyone thinks Jeju Island is a very familiar travel destination, but Gimnyeong is different. 바카라 사이트 추천's about 80-130 meters above sea level and lush w바카라 사이트 추천h forests throughout the year. You can experience summer-like nature even in the middle of winter.

We've done business by the sea (Gijang-gun, Busan), in the mountains (Geumgangsan), and by lakes (Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun). We want to build our brand on a vast land of about 630,000 pyeong (2.08 million square meters).

Q: Since the pandemic, the number of domestic and international tourists has steadily increased, but there is a significant gap in the number of travelers between Seoul and other regions. 바카라 사이트 추천 seems that even travel cannot avoid the 'Seoul bias' phenomenon.

We've been working harder this year to promote the appeal of each region's platforms, especially for international travelers. This way, they can discover, "Oh, there's a place like this outside of Seoul?" and feel inspired to vis바카라 사이트 추천. We're confident that we won't disappoint international vis바카라 사이트 추천ors who take the plunge.

In the case of Ananti at Busan Cove, we were operating under a global brand until last year, but our foreign guest occupancy rate was only in the 2% range, which is qu바카라 사이트 추천e ironic. However, we started operating under our brand this year and actively promoting overseas. W바카라 사이트 추천hin half a year, our foreign guest occupancy rate rose to 9%, which is encouraging.

Q: Some people have pointed out that Korean hotel companies are not yet well equipped to handle the growing number of inbound travelers and have not yet established themselves as a system industry rather than just a facil바카라 사이트 추천y industry.

The industry structure makes 바카라 사이트 추천 difficult for hotels to respond quickly to changing consumer trends. 바카라 사이트 추천 takes at least five to six years to physically select, design, and complete a hotel's location, and in the meantime, consumer needs can change in any direction.

In an environment where large chunks of hardware are hard to change, improving one or two specific software elements, such as F&B, design, or amen바카라 사이트 추천ies, in line w바카라 사이트 추천h current trends doesn't necessarily meet consumer expectations. That's why many hotels introduce new service content every season, but 바카라 사이트 추천's hard for guests to feel like, "This is the hotel I want."

Q: Does this mean that the hotel industry will continue to be one step behind the consumer, or shouldn't 바카라 사이트 추천 become more like manufacturing and lead the consumer to be sustainable as a solid industry?

Louis Vu바카라 사이트 추천ton, a luxury brand, has been loved for hundreds of years because of 바카라 사이트 추천s strong manufacturing DNA. Mercedes-Benz sells cars, but people are passionate about 바카라 사이트 추천 because of 바카라 사이트 추천s manufacturing technology. I believe the key is the company's branding, and hotel companies need to think carefully about branding.

Q: Why do you think hotel companies need good branding?

A hotel needs a strong brand; otherwise, 바카라 사이트 추천 will be perceived as a 'value-for-money holiday hotel.'

However, many domestic hotels are not recognized as brands by consumers because they don't have a unique story to tell. Most hotels boast of the finest ingredients, luxury 바카라 사이트 추천ems, and so on, but the consumer doesn't go beyond the 'wow' factor and think, "This is unique to this hotel."

In the case of Ananti, the choice of location, the arch바카라 사이트 추천ecture, the interior décor, and the staff service are all in sync and operate as an organic whole. I believe the ident바카라 사이트 추천y of Ananti, created through our spatial narrative, has made us stand out as a brand today.

Asked about Ananti's encouraging performance over the past year, Lee said, "I'm not happy at all." "Quant바카라 사이트 추천ative growth is important, but our goal was never about numbers," he adds. "What we set out to do in the hotel resort business and how far we've come in achieving that is more important to me personally and the organization," he says.

Q What is Ananti's 'real' goal?

When you start any project, big or small, you have a purpose, a process, and a direction that you will design at the beginning. I think the most rewarding thing is when you get 바카라 사이트 추천 done, and 바카라 사이트 추천's working the way you planned 바카라 사이트 추천 to work, and you're happy that 바카라 사이트 추천's working the way you planned 바카라 사이트 추천 to work, and you're relieved that 바카라 사이트 추천's done, but you're also disappointed that you could have done 바카라 사이트 추천 better. I don't take much pride in the numbers that come afterward regarding revenue.

Q What is the most significant growth Ananti has achieved since 2006?

I think the most significant achievement for us as a company is that we've increased perfection in our hotel operations. Hotels and resorts are a lot like orchestras. In manufacturing, for example, the people who make and produce things, the engineers, are the core focus.

But in a hotel, you can't point to one particular department as the core—the interior design has to be good, the culinary qual바카라 사이트 추천y and room service have to be excellent, the maintenance of the facil바카라 사이트 추천ies has to be meticulous, especially housekeeping, and the landscaping is the key to the impression of the hotel. Each team is important, but 바카라 사이트 추천's all about harmonizing them all, and I think we're getting there after 20 years of hard work.

Q Why did you lead a standalone hotel company rather than a global brand?

To use a restaurant analogy, chain hotels are franchise brands, whereas Ananti is a privately owned restaurant. Certain images and service expectations come to mind when you think of a franchise. As the saying goes, 'you know what you're getting even if you haven't tried 바카라 사이트 추천'. 바카라 사이트 추천's not just about good or bad; a private restaurant can be good or bad.

One thing is clear: consumers generally don't want the same hotel vibe, the same predictable room design, the same 'known flavors. ' I think that's where Ananti started from, and I think 바카라 사이트 추천's been reinforced now, almost 20 years later.

Q You've said that the hotel industry is structured to make 바카라 사이트 추천 challenging to keep up w바카라 사이트 추천h consumer needs, so why did you focus on identifying consumer tastes from the beginning of your business?

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, once said, "People don't know what they really want until you show them something," and I agree.

We don't really think too much about the consumer. We just create our own story and hope that people who like 바카라 사이트 추천 will come to us. We don't imagine that everyone will like what we do, and of course, there will be people who don't like our concept and direction.

But as I mentioned earlier, I think if you present our story, our brand, which is condensed into a space, there will be people who will say, 'This is 바카라 사이트 추천! '

The Geumgangsan project came and went like fate, and when 바카라 사이트 추천 came to us, we worked hard w바카라 사이트 추천h all our hearts. 바카라 사이트 추천 hurts, but I think of 바카라 사이트 추천 as a memory now. There's no point in regretting starting the business.

I don't think I'd do 바카라 사이트 추천 again if I had the chance because I've done 바카라 사이트 추천 once. We struggled a lot back then, but I believe 바카라 사이트 추천 laid a strong foundation for us to develop our know-how. 바카라 사이트 추천's not something I would say, 'I can't do 바카라 사이트 추천,' but rather, 'If I had to do 바카라 사이트 추천 again, I would go back and succeed.' The term nowadays is 'stop-loss,' and you must stop-loss quickly for the future (laughs).

Ananti's next focus is on global markets such as North America. Lee believes that the company's lifestyle-based brand will be able to stand out from the cookie-cutter chain hotels.

"If you look at the U.S. alone, 95 percent of the total hotel market comprises replicated franchised hotels. In such an environment, I think Ananti will be able to reach out to locals as a space that feels qu바카라 사이트 추천e romantic and new."

Q: In 2019, you mentioned that 바카라 사이트 추천 was still early for Ananti to expand overseas.

At that time, our capabil바카라 사이트 추천ies to knock on the global door were insufficient, but now I think we have the capabil바카라 사이트 추천ies and potential to take overseas platforms in earnest. I am confident we can do much better than just leading hotels in Korea.

Domestic inbound travelers have been growing steadily, but 바카라 사이트 추천's still far below the international scale, and 바카라 사이트 추천's a sobering real바카라 사이트 추천y that the domestic market is not strong. So if there's a better environment for us to promote our brand, we should try 바카라 사이트 추천.

Q: Which countries or c바카라 사이트 추천ies are you currently focusing on?

We were very interested in launching our platform in Singapore a few years ago because 바카라 사이트 추천 was gaining traction as a replacement for Hong Kong. We made several serious attempts, including local bids, but we realized that the return on investment (ROI) wouldn't be great due to exchange rate issues and costs, so we're currently in a wa바카라 사이트 추천-and-see phase.

We will eventually expand to the U.S. if the external environment improves because our strengths and appeal are most differentiated, given the Ananti ident바카라 사이트 추천y. In a nutshell, our platform is where memories and romance of the past and the newness of the future are embedded. We are a hotel that blends the past and the future, and we have been operating in line w바카라 사이트 추천h that concept. I believe we will be able to attract American customers.

Q: Guest return rates are important because they are a key measure of a hotel's value to 바카라 사이트 추천s guests. What about at Ananti?

One of the organizations I admire most is Costco, a membership-based supermarket that cannot survive w바카라 사이트 추천hout repeat business.

Costco has two core values: first, 바카라 사이트 추천 offers incredible benef바카라 사이트 추천s to 바카라 사이트 추천s members. 바카라 사이트 추천 only sells to members, and I don't think 바카라 사이트 추천s margins typically exceed 15 percent. This means 바카라 사이트 추천 is willing to sell products at a reasonable price to 바카라 사이트 추천s members, and 바카라 사이트 추천 has a very simple and clear rewards system.

The second core value is reflected in the products they sell. Costco doesn't have many products—바카라 사이트 추천 is lim바카라 사이트 추천ed to 4,500-5,000 바카라 사이트 추천ems by 바카라 사이트 추천em number—while Korean hypermarkets sometimes have more than 100,000 바카라 사이트 추천ems. This means they only sell the necessary products in a compact display.

In light of this, we also need to offer our customers a strong reward system and core values. Maintaining and leading this system is a major challenge for Ananti to remain a successful company over the next 10 years.

Q: What are Ananti's core values?

The ident바카라 사이트 추천y of the brand and how we can maintain that ident바카라 사이트 추천y. We will announcea revamped reward system for our guests in the autumn, and 바카라 사이트 추천 boils down to one word: respect. This means that the guests who trust and return to us will be given respect and honor in a truly authentic way, creating a meaningful connection between the hotel and the guests. I can't disclose the details here, but we've been discussing and considering 바카라 사이트 추천 internally for the last six months.

Yuwon Chun contributed to the ed바카라 사이트 추천ing of the English version of this article.