Interview with Yeom Soon-chan, Head of Interpark Triple Tour Package Business Group
SIT Team Formed in March... Positive Response to Unique Experiences with Experts
Customer Preferences and Hobbies Segmented... Inducing Potential Travel Demand
"Future package tours should be designed according to customers' hobbies or interests and reflect current trends."
On the 10th, Yeom Soon-chan, head of the Tour Package Business Group at Interpark Triple, emphasized this in an interview with Asia Economy, saying, "Until now, package tour products offered by travel agencies have been supplier-centered, operating with similar destinations and forcing unnecessary shopping or tips to lower prices."
The tour package business led by Yeom at Interpark Triple is breaking away from this and making new attempts. This is handled by the ‘Special Interest Travel (SIT)’ team formed last March. The products introduced by this team, which aims for ‘concept trips,’ mainly provide unique experiences for people with similar hobbies such as rock climbing, world runs, and motorcycles.
A representative package product is one where sports climbing star Kim Ja-in and participants visit Krabi, Thailand, known as a world-renowned rock climbing sanctuary, to learn climbing basics and tour local attractions. Another package was introduced for motorcycle enthusiasts, attending the BMW Motorrad 100th anniversary event and dinner party held in Munich, Germany, and enjoying riding on local courses. These products received great responses as experts in each field accompanied the travel schedule from start to finish. Although the participation fee is high, ranging from 4 to 5 million KRW per person, the small group of about 30 participants quickly filled up.
Yeom explained, "While most package products from travel agencies face continuous complaints from consumers about discomfort, refunds, and compensation, concept trips mainly receive positive feedback such as ‘the best experience of my life.’" Previously, other travel agencies offered travel products to watch European professional soccer in England or France or golf trips accompanied by professionals or celebrities, but Interpark Triple aims for more evolved and unique packages.
Yeom Soon-chan, Head of the Interpark Triple Tour Package Business Group, is explaining the SIT team’s work in an interview with Asia Economy. [Photo by Interpark Triple]
Yeom said, "Existing expert-accompanied travel products have limited time for celebrities (well-known public figures) and travelers to spend together, whereas concept trips involve experts from the product planning stage and maximize the time spent together locally, resulting in higher satisfaction." Especially, since the formation of the SIT team, more than 80% of users of customized package products are from the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), showing strong interest from younger customers.
Positive responses from travelers have led celebrities to recommend acquaintances or experts from other fields, expanding the ‘talent pool’ for product composition. In the future, experts knowledgeable about the Middle East will accompany trips to discover travel routes introducing the history and culture of relatively unfamiliar countries such as the Middle East, Egypt, and India. There are also plans to launch a cruise experience product where travelers spend the year-end on a luxury cruise in the Maldives for a week around Christmas.
Yeom said, "Although it is still in the early stages, the response has been better than expected and it is profitable, confirming its potential. We plan to increase the SIT team members, currently three people, and expand the range of fields and product offerings." He added, "Since travel agencies are businesses that gather people, we plan to create products segmented by customers’ tastes and hobbies to induce latent travel demand."
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