Visit Finland South Korea South Korea Market Report Jani Toivanen November 2017 8.11.2017
Semiannual Report SOUTH KOREA Summer season 2017 and outlook for winter 2017-2018 CONTENTS What factors have affected the results of the summer season, especially with regard to Finland? What are the prospects for the coming winter season? Other important things to pay attention to Trends and other travel related topics Facts and figures
Semiannual Report SOUTH KOREA Summer season 2017 and outlook for winter 2017-2018 What factors have affected the results of the summer season, especially with regard to Finland? Continuing Nordic boom and increasing positive exposure in media, spreading word of mouth by visitors who have been to Finland previously What are the prospects for the coming winter season? Expected to continue the fast growth seen in the summer season and previous winter season. Other important things to pay attention to Winter Olympics 2018 held in PyongChang, South Korea Feb-March. Trends and other travel related topics Package tours becoming more and more a thing for elderly generations (50+), increasing popularity of FIT among younger generations. Facts and figures Rapid growth of Koreans traveling overseas (total average 15.9% increase in 2016, and 17.7% increase during Jan-Aug 2017.
What factors have affected the results of the summer season, especially with regard to Finland? Reasons for the increase/decrease in travelling to Finland? Campaign results Many Korean tour agencies have added Coast & Archipelago (mainly Turku & Naantali) to their offering, thus increasing Korean travel to the region. Products or destinations that have been successful Helsinki remains undisputedly the most popular destination, but Coast & Archipelago has risen as a new summer destination, also experiencing high growth during the season (+33.5%). Changes in demand Increased demand as Koreans are traveling more and more every year. As many Korean travelers have experienced western Europe already, they set their sights to North Europe as the next destination. Changes in distribution or accessibility Increased and more diverse destination offering by tour agencies.
What are the prospects for the coming winter season? The overall outlook of travelling to Finland for the coming winter? Increase/decrease Growth in Korean travelers expected to continue double-digit growth rate. Reasons for the expectations Increased exposure of Finland in local media, continuing Aurora trend. New products/prospects Expanded Lapland offering How attractive are round trips (visiting at least two Nordic countries or at least two destinations in Finland)? Combined multi-country trips still the main source of Korean visits to Finland. Nordic countries are mainly considered as a combined round trip destination instead of individual countries. However, alternatively Finland can often be combined with Russia, or Baltic countries to a lesser extent. What trends should be considered in product development to increase the demand in the winter time? Auroras are a strong trend pulling people to countries like Canada, Iceland, Norway and Finland. Unique, yet not too extreme experiences considered attractive. Ability to see as many different places as possible on a single trip are important factors when deciding travel locations. Which target groups should be considered to increase the demand? Main: Younger generations (20 s, 30 s) Secondary: Families with children
What are the prospects for the coming winter season? Marketing opportunities TO cooperation Looking into ways to cooperate with the TO:s Campaigns with TA:s like picture competitions and lucky draws good way to attract interest Events Hanatour Travel Fair July 2018 Moi Moi Workshop 2018 PR Joint marketing campaign with a major TA (eg. Picture competitions, lucky draws) Sending media to Matka Travel Fair VF Media tours Press conference (eg. Moi Moi Workshop) Social media Sending influencial power bloggers to VF Media tours Instagram becoming most popular social media utilize VF instagram to target more Koreans
Other important things to pay attention to New distribution channels Your suggestion on how to develop business with them: what needs to be done? Continue reaching out to new TA:s, provide necessary information many lack information related to Finland and cannot find it online. Regular catching up and assisting with information and material Online channels Channels where Visit Finland should be present Instagram, Facebook (Korean content) Naver Blog (ref. Swiss Tourism: http://blog.naver.com/swissfriends) Suggestion of how to be present English Instagram/Facebook to draw Korean followers with targeted content Naver Blog can be operated in-house to some extent, but requires producing interesting targeted articles and content in Korean language.
Other important things to pay attention to Competitors actions Which countries (our competitors) have been active Switzerland, Japan highly active in marketing and promotions. Where have you seen their promotion Travel magazines (KTX train magazine, AB Road travel magazine, other magazines) Many travel agencies have a Switzerland promotion stands at their lobbies Japan TV advertisements 40 70 countries at Travel / Tour Exhibitions What was the main message/content of the communication Enjoy nature & outdoors (Switzerland), culture and food (Japan) Any special features / themes in Outdoor activities ( hard & soft adventures / activities)? Hiking, nature trails, nature within city Balancing between city tour and nature tour is important. Any special themes in Culture? Food and restaurants
Other important things to pay attention to Upcoming Tourism Events in 2017 Q4, and 2018. Name Date Location 2017 Hana Tour Travel Exhibition 2017.11.06.~11.26. Online 2017 Modu Tour Travel Exhibition 2017.11.17.~11.19 COEX 1F A-hall 2017 Timon Travel Exhibition 2017.11.06.~11.26 Online 2018 Korea World Travel Fair 2018.06.14.~06.17 COEX 1F A-hall 2018 The 21st Busan International Travel Fair 2018.09.07.~09.10 Bexco 2018 The 15th Tour Expo Daegu Gyeongbuk 2018.04.12.~04.15 EXCO 2018 Asian TOP100 Tourism Cities Mayors Conference 2018.04.12.~4.14. EXCO 2018 Hana Tour Travel Exhibition 2018.07. (TBC) KINTEX 2018 Modu Tour Travel Exhibition 2018.11. (TBC) 2018 Interpark Travel Exhibition 2018.05. (TBC) 2018 Timon Travel Exhibition 2018.11. (TBC) 2018 Korean Travel Fair 2018.04. (TBC) 2018 Asiana Travel Exhibition 2018.09. (TBC)
Other important things to pay attention to Trends and other travel related topics Any new travel trends on your market? Travel to nature away from hectic city life Grand sights & phenomenon eg. Auroras Traveling like a local (eg. B&B instead of hotels) younger generations Food travel traveling to enjoy delicious foods (Eatertainment) SNS mania writing blogs, Instagram pictures Traveling alone Education tour (especially teachers, education staff) What s hot now on your market (BtoC and/or BtoB) Same as above, especially traveling like a local and travel alone (BtoC) Free word Something else that you would like to say to the Finnish travel trade or Visit Finland South Korea is highly potential market that continues strong growth, but to truly tap into the potential requires investment and active cooperation with the tour operators and travel agencies. Marketing campaigns and media are the most influential channels to make a new travel trend. Balancing between city tour and nature tour is important. Quantity is also popular for a Korean tourist (seeing as much as possible on one trip). The first Finland specific tour guidebook written in Korean was published in Nov 2017 by TA Chalet Travel and available in Korean bookstores
Facts and figures 50 000 40 000 30 000 20 000 10 000 0 30 000 25 000 20 000 15 000 10 000 5 000 0 South Korean Overnights in Finland 2000-2016 41 840 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 South Korean Overnights by Season 2010-2017 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Winter season (11-04) Summer season (05-10) Share of overnights by regions 2016 79% 7% 5% 9% Most of the Korean travelers visit Finland during the summer season Korean travelers go abroad more in the summer time due to the timing of school and work holidays Wanting to escape the humid hot summer in Korea is another affecting factor Sources: Statistics Service Rudolf, Visit Finland Market Review by Jani Toivonen 6/2017
South Korean overnights in Finland High seasons: winter 2016-2017 and summer 2017 South Korea High winter season (12-02) 2017 Nights spent Change of nights spend, % WHOLE COUNTRY 8 667 21,3 HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA 5 380 32,8 LAPLAND 2 618 19,9 LAKELAND 350-26,9 COAST AND ARCHIPELAGO 319-26,2 South Korea High summer season (06-08) 2017 Nights spent Change of nights spend, % WHOLE COUNTRY 21 749 23,6 HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA 19 420 25,3 COAST AND ARCHIPELAGO 1 254 33,5 LAKELAND 703-29,0 LAPLAND 372 128,2 Source: Visit Finland Statistics Service Rudolf, Statistics Finland
South Korea Latest overnight figures Jan-Aug 2017 Nights spent Nights spent 1.1.2017 1.2.2017 1.3.2017 1.4.2017 1.5.2017 1.6.2017 1.7.2017 1.8.2017 Jan-Aug 2017 Foreign 620 923 554 293 525 188 347 658 416 440 602 652 798 823 757 726 4 623 703 1. Russian Federation 154 409 55 321 52 965 42 747 48 352 55 395 87 956 89 739 586 884 2. Germany 41 398 51 930 50 654 27 963 34 564 82 517 96 421 94 102 479 549 3. Sweden 24 499 26 657 39 566 38 573 51 241 61 471 125 744 81 508 449 259 4. United Kingdom 62 864 60 823 34 240 22 784 25 425 34 549 33 856 39 486 314 027 5. China and Hong Kong 35 355 29 487 20 672 13 490 22 466 39 123 42 987 43 979 247 559 6. France 42 309 47 222 36 275 10 506 12 758 16 650 20 006 22 597 208 323 7. United States 11 969 13 178 17 942 12 203 24 735 36 342 35 968 40 392 192 729 8. Netherlands 36 442 37 586 24 258 9 451 10 956 17 214 20 413 20 234 176 554 9. Japan 16 194 20 099 23 356 9 309 14 458 18 803 25 792 31 158 159 169 10. Norway 8 188 15 319 21 371 20 265 11 491 16 306 35 322 18 682 146 944 11. Estonia 16 234 18 198 17 829 13 220 14 033 14 923 22 544 18 989 135 970 12. Switzerland 17 636 19 462 13 331 6 500 7 591 15 971 34 527 19 186 134 204 13. Italy 13 356 9 762 11 782 7 278 7 370 12 678 17 408 28 290 107 924 14. Spain 10 320 8 406 10 897 10 581 6 770 12 210 15 783 23 728 98 695 23. Korea, Republic Of 3 069 2 175 2 016 1 755 3 731 6 000 6 918 8 831 34 495 Change of nights spent, % 1.1.2017 1.2.2017 1.3.2017 1.4.2017 1.5.2017 1.6.2017 1.7.2017 1.8.2017 Total foreign 19,4 20,2 23,7 16,3 11,7 12,2 11,2 11,6 South Korea 30,4-17,2 0,8-6,3 28,7 29,6 17,5 24,8 January-August 2017 South Korea Nights spent Change of nights spent, % Jan-Aug 2017 Jan-Aug 2017 WHOLE COUNTRY 34 495 17,5 HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA 28 947 21,2 LAPLAND 2 437 18,8 COAST AND ARCHIPELAGO 1 970 5,3 LAKELAND 1 141-26,3 Source: Visit Finland Statistics Service Rudolf, Statistics Finland