"Strengthening Group School Trip Hosting in Japan" Korea Tourism Organization Wins Tour Grand Prix from Japan Travel Agents Association

Accelerating Recruitment of Japanese Students and Corporate Groups Despite Yen Weakness

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 10th that they are focusing on attracting Japanese student groups and corporate incentive groups despite the prolonged weak yen and economic downturn.

Students from Ziben Academy, a prestigious high school in the Kansai region of Japan, are taking a commemorative photo with the construction character Hojongi.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The Ministry and the Organization plan to reform support systems to secure the educational travel group market, including school trips, and to create mid- to long-term inbound demand through exchanges between the future generations of the two countries. Starting this year, the support scope will be expanded to include university students and language school groups, and pre-inspection trips to Korea by travel agencies and education officials will be supported to attract Korean school trips from Japanese high schools. A matching platform for the exchange program with local university students called the ‘B&S (Brothers & Sisters) Program’ will also be established.

The Japanese travel industry is also showing great interest in Korean educational travel. A representative example is the educational travel product ‘Korea-Japan Future Project’ submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization’s Osaka office, which was selected at the ‘Tour Grand Prix,’ an annual award ceremony hosted by the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) recognizing excellent planned travel products.

This is the first time in nine years that a Korean travel product has won the award. Developed jointly by the Korea Tourism Organization, Osaka Tourism Bureau, and Japan’s largest travel agency JTB, this product allows students to take the lead in choosing the tour product rather than following a school-led itinerary. Despite being a high-priced product costing about 1.2 million KRW, students from 15 high schools used this product to visit Korea. The travel product is expanding its coverage and is preparing for a second round of sales this winter.

In fact, Korean school trips from Japan have steadily increased since exchanges resumed last year. The number of student groups visiting Korea in the first half of this year was 1,779, showing a 101% increase compared to the same period last year.

Students from Jiben Academy starting their school trip schedule in Korea after arriving at Busan Gimhae Airport.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

By the end of the year, about 5,700 students are planning school trips to Korea, approximately 3.2 times more than in 2019. On the 9th, a group of 63 students from Jiben Academy in Japan resumed their school trip to Korea after a five-year hiatus due to COVID-19, arriving at Busan Gimhae Airport. Jiben Academy is a prestigious high school in the Kansai region of Japan and this was their 46th visit to Korea since their first visit in 1975. Up to this year, a total of 22,338 students from Jiben Academy have visited Korea over nearly half a century.

Park Seong-ung, head of the Japan team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "Despite the difficult situation where Japanese overseas travel sentiment is restrained due to external factors such as the weak yen, the educational travel market is meaningful in nurturing future demand," adding, "We plan to secure mid- to long-term inbound demand through various new projects along with the student group support system."

Alongside educational travel, the Korea Tourism Organization is conducting a MICE roadshow in Nagoya starting today to attract high value-added corporate incentive groups to Korea. From the 25th to the 26th, a K-Tourism roadshow will be held in Sendai, and an incentive briefing session will be conducted targeting 30 local companies and the Chamber of Commerce.