CONTRIBUTOR Luxury travel trends in Korea
In spite of the global recession, outbound travel from Korea has grown progressively and particularly in relation to luxury travel, which has dramatically increased in the last decade.
Kwang-Jong Choi Editor-in-Chief Korea Tourism News
With a total population of 50 million, more than 15 million people travelled abroad from Korea in 2012. Korea is therefore in the position of boasting the highest percentage of a population that travels abroad - more than 30% - compared to Japan, which still sees 16 million of its 150 million population venturing overseas. This pattern is here to stay: outbound Korean travel is the strongest in the world.
In terms of luxury travel in Korea, statistics indicate that 10% of the luxury travel market is honeymooners i.e. 1.5 million people. The trend for honeymooners is very specific, as honeymooners choose ultra-luxury, once-in- a-lifetime experiences. They tend to not to worry about how much they spend on their honeymoon, as Koreans believe a honeymoon is the most important travel experience in their life.
There is approximately 760,000 high-end luxury travellers from Korea, 1.5 million golfers and 1 million business travellers who are travelling extensively all over the world. As a result, around 5 million people stay at luxury hotels or resorts every year. I believe this number will increase, as our economy continues to boom.
With this trend in mind, luxury hoteliers, resorts and travel agencies should promote themselves to the Korean market, especially by participating at ILTM Asia 2014, which has huge potential for increasing Korean luxury travel business. 25 travel agencies were accredited and invited to attend ILTM Asia this year, each of whom were delighted with the high end brands and new luxury travel companies they met and I look forward to seeing these numbers and trends increase.
JULY2013
27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30