The Eurail group, which provides Eurail passes that allow passengers to travel Europe by train, announced that Korea is its second largest market in the world, and the largest market in Asia. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The Eurail group, which provides Eurail passes that allow passengers to travel Europe by train, announced that Korea is its second largest market in the world, and the largest market in Asia.
The share of Korean passengers that used Eurail from January to November 2015 was 14 percent, ranking second after American passengers (32 percent).
Australia ranked third (11 percent), followed by China (6 percent), Canada (6 percent) and Japan (4 percent).
Yi Ding, Eurail’s manager of the Asian market, commented that 40,000 Koreans ride Eurail trains every year, noting that more than half of the Korean passengers (56 percent) are youth aged 12 to 25.
Yi added that the countries Korean passengers visited the most were Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
“Not only the Korean market, but also the Asian market is showing noticeable growth”, Yi continued. “The number of Asian passengers increased 12 percent compared to November 2015, and Asia has a 37 percent share of the market, which ranks second after North America (38 percent).”
The Eurail pass was established for tourists in 1959, and can only be used by individuals who reside outside of Europe.
Currently, the Eurail passes through 28 countries, and more than 300,000 passengers travel by Eurail every year.
The Eurail group also announced improvements that are scheduled to occur.
Before, it was only possible to reserve a pass six months before travel. However, travelers can now reserve a pass up to 11 months before they embark on their trip.
The ‘Region Pass’, which allowed passengers to travel around two countries, will be changed to allow travel in two to four countries.
In addition, with the new Scandinavian Pass, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden can all be visited for the same price as traveling in only one of the countries.
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
