Working in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ); a workshop for Korean travel agencies was held last week working with 10 major partners including Hana Tour, Mode Tour and Interpark. The aim was to showcase the diversity of Sunshine Coast tourism products and develop new and exciting itineraries, increase Korean trade partners’ knowledge of tourism experiences and ultimately encourage Korean travellers to visit the region.
Further to this, packages created and leveraging Korean Air have been promoted and sold at the Mode Tour Travel Show over the past days (16-19 November). There was a growing interest from Koreans in the Sunshine Coast with the show attended by over 70,000 high value consumers with propensity to travel.
VSC CEO, Simon Latchford recognises the opportunity to tap into the new and emerging market of South Korea for the Sunshine Coast, also one of the fastest growing markets for Queensland.
“International market growth can only be achieved through collaboration with our partners at TEQ, Sunshine Coast Council (SCC), travel and trade agents, airlines and our tourism operators.
“The recent trade workshops and Mode Travel Show follow a range of activity staged throughout the year including the airing of two episodes of travel program ‘The Travels of Nearly Everywhere’ reaching 1.2 million viewers and supported by SCC, welcoming producers of guidebook ‘Dawn Sense’ to produce content, hosting five VIP Korean buyers following Australian Tourism Exchange in May and a further eight agents to experience the region first-hand following TEQ Queensland on Stage workshops in October.
“Access is very important for visitors. Korean Air currently offers direct Seoul to Brisbane flights four times per week with daily flights during the peak season of December to February. There is also the indirect services of Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.
“We know the Sunshine Coast can provide a nature and beach experience to complement a Brisbane city visit for Koreans. These activities are lining up with our strategy to develop new off-shore markets and in addition assist our mission to build capacity and demand for the new international Sunshine Coast Airport, due to be completed in 2020,” added Mr Latchford.
This current activity will be followed up with a significant digital campaign in Korea by partners Korea Air, TEQ, VSC and Korean travel agencies. This is scheduled to commence December 2017 and run through to March 2018. VSC will also continue to nurture relationships with Australian based Korean Inbound Tour Operator partners.
Fast Facts
South Korean visitation to Queensland has grown strongly with expenditure up 13% and visitation up 14% in the three years ending June 2017.• $226.7 million spend up 5.6% year on year
• 75,000 visitors up 18.3% year on year
• 85% of trips are for leisure.
No comments:
Post a Comment