Short-term travel trending now

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) India took 13 travel agencies and a media partner to a seven-day familiarisation trip to Korea recently, which includes a B2B meeting in Seoul with 9 DMCs (South Korea) for future business.TRAVTALK talks to a few partners for their views on the trip.

Bryan

Outbound travel trends

Singh: We have observed a new trend in mountain tourism that involves self-driving vehicles and accommodations for each family.

Raghunath: Short-term travel, post-COVID friendly countries, easing of travel restrictions, and removal of mandatory RT-PCR test after arrival are the new outward travel trends that I have seen so far.

Mandhwani: Clients are choosing short-distance locations. India continues to be a robust market with sustained pent-up demand and sending the most travellers to a variety of outbound locations, despite COVID regulations and visa delays from some embassies.

Steps to woo Indians

Singh: In India, we should create buzz through roadshows, culinary festivals, special events at Korean restaurants, some type of cultural festival, Korean students, or something similar. Korea Tourism can take part in that, as can other parties like ChinaAirlines.

Raghunath: This is my first trip to South Korea. The first impression of the visit is that there is history and culture, that the people are kind, that there are many food options, and that the setting is a little expensive. It is critical that they have a strong tourism infrastructure. Both Jeju and Seoul have a lot to offer. The Submarine Tour, unfortunately, let me down a little because I believed it was highly rated. Language is a problem but at key locations there are individuals who can speak English. All other sight-seeing has natural and historical aspects (fluency to be ignored).

Mandhwani: It is crucial that COVID regulations in Korea are simple. Compared to last year, the pattern has completely shifted in 2022, with Indian tourists preferring to explore the area rather than spend their time at a hotel or resort. Appealing MICE itineraries for corporations in India for 3–4 nights at affordable prices. Flexibility for guests from India to host weddings by enabling all important rites and providing alluring discounts. India is a price-sensitive market, thus offering more goods at tempting prices will boost demand. Finally, given that few Indian consumers have Korea on their travel wish list, consumer marketing should receive more attention in India.

One new thing learnt

Singh: It’s less crowded, and far more lovely in my opinion than we originally expected. I have observed that Indians tend to have a negative perception of Korea as a nation. Some of those K-drama shows that Indians are currently obsessed with are responsible for this image. However, despite how much they enjoy those programmes, they do not accurately portray Korea
as a nation.

Raghunath: People are worried about the formalities involved in the current situation, as a lot of questions are asked. Official procedures in the nations they visit. As a result, people prefer those nations that have a greater awareness.

Mandhwani: The GDP is US$1.5 trillion despite the small size of the nation. Korean history dates back to more than 5,000 years.