Skift Take
Korean tour agencies got a harsh wakeup call last year. This year, they must prove they have a reason to exist alongside foreign online travel agencies and booming travel startups.
Last year was gloomy for Korean tour agencies. In October, major brand Top Travel, which had its heyday in the early 2000s selling cheap flight tickets, closed. This came after three agencies shut down abruptly in September. After more than 700 complaints, the Korea Consumer Agency warned tourists to “take extra caution” due to the “serial closures” of tour agencies.
Several honeymoon tour agencies came after Top Travel’s demise, breaking the hearts, and wallets, of more than 300 couples.
In many ways, South Korea traditional agencies are facing a similar problem that has hit their counterparts in other markets hard and killed off those that are not able to adapt. They fail – or refuse to – act on a sea-change of consumer preferences toward non-packaged travel, online and mobile booking and the entry of online travel agencies and new travel startups.
None of the top 10 agencies in South Korea have shut down, but the major players were nonetheless shaken. Making matters more bitter, the overall travel market performed strongly. Travel expenditures grew from $14 billion in 2010 to $27 billion in 2017, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
Until 1989, South Korean
