Records 1,165 Indian tourists in 2014
Jeju, one of the nine provinces of Korea and the country’s largest island, is now looking at India as a source market for the MICE and wellness segments. Jeju attracted 12 million tourists last year of which 3.3 million were foreign arrivals. Among arrivals, Jeju received over 1100 visitors from India last year. The tourism organisation plans to raise this to 10,000 by 2020. Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) together with Jeju Tourism Organisation (JTO) and Jeju Convention and Visitors Bureau (JCVB) jointly conducted a promotional campaign in India, to attract leisure and MICE and wellness segments.
Lee Jung Hwan, General Director of Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau, highlighted that 1165 Indian travellers visited the destination last year and made a total travel expenditure of USD 1250.50. Hwan aims to elevate these figures further by leveraging on the leisure and MICE travel to the visa-free island. 147,736 tourists from India visited Korea in 2014 which was a 19.9% increase over the previous year.
Hwan elaborated that Jeju is a well-known honeymoon destination and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the Indian market, they look forward to adopt a step by step approach to understand the preferences of Indian travellers and work out attractive and competitive packages, he added.
Yang Ji-hyeon, Chief Manager – Marketing Business Department, Jeju Tourism Organisation added that they will be working closely with the KTO office in India to conduct workshops on Jeju in the Indian market. “There is an awareness deficit in the Indian market, as far as Jeju is concerned. To overcome the same, we will be organising FAM trips for both agents and media to Jeju in the coming months,” she revealed. She further added that Jeju is picking up as a weekend holiday destination and is a prominent hub for medical and wellness tourism.
Jin-hun Cho, Marketing Director, JCVB said that they aim to understand the demands of Indian travellers and promote MICE tourism to Jeju by incentivising the agents. MICE events can be hosted in offbeat settings and can be combined with a number of adventure activities available in Jeju, he added. We are looking to target the high Wellness segment in India. We plan to target Mumbai and Delhi first and then later look at the other cities. International visitors do not need a visa to enter Jeju. He added, “While Seoul attracts medical tourists, Jeju is looking at promoting wellness concepts like aromatherapy, spa treatments, hydrotherapy, etc. So we are looking at the segment that can get the surgical procedures done in Seoul and then come to Jeju for healing and rejuvenation.”
Jeju Island has a visa-free entry to Indians, valid up to 30 days. The island is connected to India by direct flights via Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok.
