SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — In a strategic move to increase profitability and attract new customers, South Korea’s travel agencies are rapidly expanding their offerings of premium package tours. These upgraded travel experiences remove common frustrations found in budget packages, such as mandatory shopping trips, optional tour fees, and guide tipping, instead emphasizing quality and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Travel agencies are coming up with the so-called “value travel” packages to attract customers in their 20s and 30s and bolster environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related activities. Yellow Balloon Tour released a “1 Day Tour + 5 Day Free” travel package to Hawaii. The package brings travelers to Kualoa Ranch, where the [...]
SEOUL, July 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major travel agencies are releasing charter flight package tours primarily for Southeast Asia as part of efforts to better cope with the recent hike in air ticket prices caused by higher oil prices and a weak Korean won. Hana Tour sold specially-priced air tickets to Southeast Asia [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s four major travel agencies have cut nearly half of their workforces over the past two years in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The four players — Hana Tour, Modetour Network, Yellow Balloon Tour and Very Good Tour — had a combined headcount of [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Over the past two years, the number of employees working at major travel agencies in South Korea nearly halved due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. According to the electronic disclosure system of the Financial Supervisory Service, the number of employees working at the nation’s six listed travel agencies totaled [...]
SEOUL, July 30 (Korea Bizwire) — For Kwon Ji-young, a 41-year-old office worker, traveling overseas has been an annual ritual that allows her to completely take a break from the heavy workload of her daily life. But since she canceled her planned 10-day trip to Austria in April last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [...]
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Kang Soon-young, a 49-years-old man who runs a small travel agency in Gangdong District, Seoul, converted half of the office into a laundromat in April 2020 as overseas travel became almost impossible due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. After opening the door of the travel agency that no [...]
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean travel agencies have resumed sales of new overseas travel packages for the first time in more than a year following the COVID-19 pandemic. The move came after the government announced a plan to exempt the 14-day obligatory quarantine requirement for vaccinated travelers entering other countries. Very Good [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean travel agencies said Monday they saw their annual sales plummet more than 80 percent last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are in urgent need of relief measures from the government. “(Travel agencies) can no longer shoulder their fixed costs due to mounting debts and their [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Travel agencies struggling with the ongoing pandemic are turning to selling imports of specialty goods in a bid to limit their losses. Very Good Tour Co. recently sold 3,000 cans of olive oil from Valencia, Spain in just three hours after their release. The company has been importing high [...]