Outbound

Korea aims for larger Indian outbound pie

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

Apart from all the promotions that Bollywood film Gangster has done for Korea, the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) is now trying to seize a bigger chunk of Indian outbound tourists by strengthening its relationship with the Indian travel fraternity.

Hyo Sik Jeon, director of KTO (Bangkok) said, "We host promotional activities like Korean film festivals, Korean gourmet night, traditional performances and other cultural events where most guests are from India - the government, business companies, travel trade and incentive companies. Apart from promoting Korea, these events also help us in enhancing our relationship with the Indian counterparts."

Jeon hoped that the visa exemption issue between India and Korea will be discussed by the two governments. "However, to facilitate visa application procedures, KTO may request cooperation from the Korean consulate in India to provide special convenience. In any case, since visa procedures are based on the bilateral agreement between both the governments, any amendment will happen at the government level," he said.

Speaking about the potential that India shows for Korea, Kim Jong-Min, chairman and CEO of KTO, said, "We are looking forward to promote our destinations amongst prospective travellers by initiating a series of effective joint promotions, tactical campaigns and cross promotions through various trade and media channels."

Incentives that KTO offers to provide to group travellers to Korea include discounted hotel rates for conventions and conferences in Korea, providing incentives like free souvenirs for groups upon arrival, hosting performances, etc.

Identifying that a large share of Indian outbound travellers go to the neighbouring South East Asian countries, Korea is promoting its destination as a hub for entertainment, adventure, shopping and state-of-art infrastructure for filming along with MICE. KTO has even assured cooperation and special incentives for special groups from India such as a film or television crews, performance groups, or business groups. "Indians have been travelling to Korea primarily as business travellers and we are looking at increasing that traffic," Jong-Min said.