S.Korea's travel agencies fight for survival with customized products

South Korea’s major travel agencies, feeling threatened by the rise of online travel agencies on the tourism market, are using their strengths in package tours to boldly revamp their offerings by removing unpopular aspects and developing demographic-customized themed products.

Hanatour Service Inc., which turned a profit this year after struggling due to the coronavirus, is considered a model for showing the way forward for package tours. Its Hana Pack 2.0 released in July 2021 removed the shopping part of the schedule, something that had been considered essential for such tours. 

The company's sales in the first half of the year reached 126.5 billion won ($94.4 million), up over four times from 31.4 billion won in the same period last year.

Another domestic travel giant is offering theme tours by age group. In April, Modetour Network Inc. introduced its Hong Kong Concept Tour, which allows influencers to travel with their fans. By promoting the expertise of the accompanying influencer in a destination, fans quickly snapped up this program.

The tours sold out 30 seconds after sales were launched and interestingly, 95% of those making reservations were millennials and members of Generation Z, who normally prefer independent travel.

Write to Mi-Kyoung Lee at capital@hankyung.com