A Korean-American woman has won the jackpot in Las Vegas. Xochitl Hwang (52) is the developer of Onionmap, which has been chosen as the official online map of the city of Las Vegas. An obscure little Korean firm edged out global giants Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL.

Onionmap, made by Korea’s Quriocity with technology developed in Korea, is a three-dimensional, interactive map which also helps with shopping, sightseeing, hotel and restaurant reservations and community activities. Within Onionmap, all services are one-stop. The company is expected to make W400 billion per year from Las Vegas reservations, out of an average of W4 trillion in annual revenues Las Vegas earns from tourism (US$1=W1,291).

Hwang says she was never satisfied with what she had, constantly searching for new things and enjoying challenges. “I changed businesses the way some people change their boyfriends,” she says. “And the way relationships can become boring after some time, I always opt for a new and different business when my current one is stabilized.”

The key to survival is to think differently from others. “You can’t be at the top when you benchmark the front runner. The best you can reach is second place. To be in the first place, you have to take the road not taken,” she says.

When she started Onionmap, many people asked her why she did not do it like Google or Yahoo maps. If she had, the “miracle of Las Vegas” would never have happened.

Hwang says she has spent one-third of last 30 years in airplanes and hotels on business trips in the U.S., Europe and China. But her latest journey has just begun. Hwang now plans to target other major U.S. cities with Onionmap.

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