Korea Targets 60,000 Indian Leisure Tourists

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

Business relations between Korea and India are going great guns and now it is 'active travel relations' between the two countries that are set to kick off. Korea is actively looking at tapping the Indian leisure segment and has already appointed Trac Representations as its marketing representative in India to take things ahead.

As per plans, Korean tourism is targeting to lure about 60,000 leisure tourists from India this year. Initially, the country is looking at promoting adventure, parks, culture, theme parks and shopping in India.

Korea is creating awareness by organising FAM trips for travel agents, tour operators and media. Through these trips, it is hopes to create adequate awareness about its products and the 'destination'. Korean tourism is also planning to introduce special packages once it receives feedback from the Indian travel fraternity.

In an exclusive with Express Travel & Tourism, Jeon Hyo Sik, director (Bangkok office), Korea National Tourism Organisation said, "Korea and India share excellent business relations therefore there is constant traffic flow and we would like to extend this traffic to the leisure travel segment as well. So far, India has been thinking of Korea as an absolute business destination or a developed IT country, but now through Trac, we are creating awareness about Korea as a leisure destination. We have realised that India is an emerging market and we are trying to capture our share of the market."

Korea has not been very active in promoting its leisure travel bounties due to the limited number of flights. Currently, Korean Air operates six flights a week from India (three each from Mumbai and Delhi). When asked whether connectivity is a bottleneck as far as its promotions are concerned, Jeon Hyo Sik replied, "Korea being a stand-alone destination proves to be a roadblock as far as the leisure segment is concerned. We do not face major problems with regards to business travel, which is already an established market."