With growing economic ties between India and Korea, Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) is looking to tap the Indian MICE and leisure markets. KTO recently organized two-city roadshow in India, Delhi and Mumbai. The roadshow received tremendous response from the Indian travel trade fraternity. The road show at New Delhi saw the participation of the 3 Korean DMC namely Bosuk Tours, US Travels and Jane Tour & DMC besides the Korea Tourism Organization officials who were represented by Ki Hun Kim, Executive Director, Jin Soo Lee, Deputy Director, Jae Sang Lee, Director, India Office and Myong Kil Yun, Deputy Director, India Office and Arvind Rajamani, Marketing Manager, KTO, India Office. Kim’s Travel joined the roadshow in Mumbai. “There is a lot of interest about India in Korea and that’s the reason why so many Korean companies are investing in India. We also want the Indians to know more about Korea and visit Korea,” Kee Hun Kim, Executive Director, Overseas Marketing Department, Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
He also said that although the traffic is increasing but the destination is still perceived as MICE cum business destination but not as a leisure destination. To do this the organization plans to do some brand campaigning, organize FAM trips for top selling agents of India, FAM trip for Media, increasing frequency of road shows, more active participation in trade exhibition, joint trade promotion and likewise. Currently, more than 400 Korean companies, including Hyundai, Samsung and LG among others, are working in India. KTO has also been trying to rope in Korean consumer brands present in India and make their employees more aware of the destination.
Moreover, Korea offers a world-class MICE infrastructure and Korea is ranked at number 3 in terms of hosting international conferences and exhibitions in 2012. “We will be promoting this segment through the participation of Korean companies,” Kim said and added that KTO is planning to will organise a dedicated Incentives roadshow in Delhi, Pune, and Ahmedabad next month.
Throwing light on the Indian numbers, Kim said that Korea received 96,000 Indian visitors during January –September 2013 compared to 92,000 Indians in 2012. Of the 92,000 visitors from India to Korea till the end of 2012, 70% were business travelers. “We expect Indian tourist arrivals to touch 120,000 in 2013,” Kim said. The surge in Indian arrival is due to the fact that Korean government recently announced the visa relaxation for transit passengers for 72 hours to visit places in the country without visa. He urged that Indians transiting through Seoul to the US and other destinations can avail this facility either on their onward journey or during return without visa. “We are expecting 200,000 Indians to visit Korea every year in the next five years through our promotions. The growth on an average will be around 10 percent per annum,” Kee said. Korea expects to receive 12 million foreign tourists in 2013.
Rajamani shared a presentation on Korea’s tourism profile and talked about Korea as leisure by giving individual inside of the 3 most popular places of Korea namely Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island from an Indian traveler point of view.
The event was a great success as it gave all the participants a first hand information about the destination and also an opportunity to know about the products besides networking with the Korean DMC.
Currently, Asiana Airways and Korean Air offers direct connectivity between India and Korea.
