IGTO Seoul 2010 -2011 Background of Korea

IGTO Seoul 2010 -2011

Background of Korea Population: 50 Million (2010, June) • Seoul: 10 Million • Gyounggi Do (largest province surrounding Seoul): 11 Million • Busan: 3. 5 Million • Daegu: 2. 5 Million Religions • Christians: 13. 7 Million (28% of the population; Protestant: 8. 6 Million; Catholic: 5. 1 Million) • Buddhists: 10. 7 Million • Other Minor Religions: 0. 5 Million • Without Religions: 21. 9 Million (Statistics by Korean National Statistical Office, 2005) IGTO Seoul 2

Christians by Province (do) & City 　 Gyeonggido Catholic Busan Daegu Ulsan Jeonrado Gwangju Chungcheongdo Daejeon Gangwon Jejudo Total 16% 1, 686, 600 12% 1, 351, 345 10% 261, 410 240, 230 66, 991 863, 637 26% 362, 789 255, 593 3, 605, 095 2, 210, 251 559, 075 99, 571 Gyeongsangdo 1, 382, 264 32% 345, 843 364, 592 Seoul % 1, 286, 104 563, 433 Total 4, 455, 974 2, 260, 594 2, 222, 831 Incheon IGTO Seoul Protestant 360, 292 278, 884 183, 787 587, 278 314, 870 295, 330 153, 867 227, 437 132, 936 360, 373 3% 38, 183 54, 764 92, 947 1% 8, 616, 438 5, 146, 147 13, 762, 585 100% 3

Korean Outbound Tourism 13, 324, 997 11, 996, 094 12, 488, 364 IMF Increasing in general. Decrease in 2008 -2009 due to increase of dollar exchange rate and global economic crisis. 2011: 12. 5 M in spite of disasters & economic slump. IGTO Seoul 4

Korean Outbound Tourism by Continent (Statistics by Korea Tourism Organization, 2005) Asia > Americas > Europe > Oceania > Middle East> Africa IGTO Seoul 5

Koreans’ Travel Pattern Koreans usually get short holidays from company: 3 -7 days. Good weather is an important factor to decide a tour. Important to eat Korean food during tour. Way of package purchase: offline agents 80%, online 20% Most of Korean groups have a Korean tour conductor from Korea because of language problem. Usually choose short destinations in Asia for rest and leisure (one country) and long destinations for tour (3 -6 countries at once; visiting tourist sites, historical sites, unique nature). Package groups for long destinations usually visit in the order of Western Europe – North America – Eastern Europe & Mediterranean countries – Northern Europe – Middle East (Pilgrimage is exceptional of this order) – South America. IGTO Seoul 6

Korean Food Korean Tourists bring to tour: gim (seaweed), gimchi, pepper paste, stir-fried anchovies, cup-ramyen, etc. Food Korean tourists are served in Korean restaurants during tour: Jabchae, Bulgogi, gimchijigae, bibimbab, etc. (twice on average for 7 days of tour) IGTO Seoul 7

Korean Agents’ Working System for Land Handling Korean agents mostly work with Korean land operators, either working independently or working with local agents, due to language, time difference, food, etc. Big wholesalers have branch offices abroad: e. g. , Hana Tour in London and LA; Mode Tour in London and Paris. In the countries where they have no branch office, they work with Korean operators registered in the country where they work. IGTO Seoul 8

Korean Tourists to Israel Full Gospel IMF l l Korean market is growing in general but sensitive to economical & security factors, e. g. , In 2009: increase of dollar exchange rate (up to 1, 600 KRW/USD), global economic crisis and Gaza incident. In 2011: incidents in the Middle East. Many groups were cancelled/postponed or changed destinations to Greece/Turkey. 32, 000 visitors expected. IGTO Seoul 9

Koreans’ Pilgrimage Pattern High & Low Season: • Highest Season: Jan. -Feb. (school winter vacation), more than 30% of traffic concentrated. • Low Season: July-Aug. (hot weather in Israel) • Lowest Season: Nov. -Dec. (end of year, Christmas) Major Targets: • Christians from age group of 50 -65 with a middle-high socioeconomic status consisting of the most of the pilgrimage groups. • Christian seminary students steadily visit Israel as a part of their curriculum. IGTO Seoul 10

Major Pilgrimage Routes: • “Exodus Route”: most typical pilgrimage covering 3 countries of Egypt/Jordan/Israel (3~4 nights in Israel). • “Paulos Route”: Greece/Turkey. Since the resumption of the direct flight of Korean Air in 2008 (3 times/week), number of trip for “Israel Only” is growing and number of Catholic groups visiting Israel has grown too. Protestant and Catholic groups (7: 3): using different terms and different pronunciation of place names in the Bible. Mostly, protestant operators & guides for Protestant groups and Catholic operators & guides for Catholic groups. IGTO Seoul 11

Cruise pilgrimage is getting popular for large groups of 200 pax or more with cooperation between agents and Christian TV stations because of convenience of lodging and organizing assemblies. (about 600 pax in 2011; Seoul Travel & CTS TV, Jau Tour & CBS TV, Santa Cruise and CBS Tour planning large groups of 200 -500 pax for 2012 Easter. ) Israel for general tour: Some wholesalers sell Middle East packages including Israel to new destination seekers. Hana Tour, No. 1 wholesaler, started to sell Israel/Jordan for general tour with ad in Hanatour. com, road show for retailers & sales people, plan to prepare DVD & brochure for general tour. l l IGTO Seoul 12

Korean Agents’ Working System for Pilgrimage Korean agents work with Korean land operators in Israel as they do for other destinations. Most Korean tour guides are students with a student visa for limited period. Two biggest wholesalers work with Christian agents by outsourcing: Hana Tour (No. 1; 1, 100 Hana Tour only sales agencies / 7, 000 sales agencies selling Hana Tour products) with Koryo Travel Service since 2009; Mode Tour (No. 2; 700 / 4, 300) with Jongryonamu Tour since 2011. IGTO Seoul 13

MARKETING ACTIVITIES 2010 -2011 IGTO Seoul

Israel Seminars for Church Leaders 3~4 times/year in major cities Lectures by Israel Specialists Contents of Lectures: Israel geography, modern society & culture, archeology, etc. Welcome Speech by Israel Ambassador Participants: 200~250 church leaders 10 Major Agents’ Promotion at Lobby Lucky Draw Good responses from both agents and church leaders. Best way to connect agents with pastors. Sending E-mail newsletter 2 -3 times/month. IGTO Seoul 15

Pictures from Israel Seminars IGTO Seoul 16

Agent Seminar “Israel Study Day” IGTO Seoul Lecture: “Israel Society & Culture” Participants: about 100 (85 new & existing agents, media) Lucky draw Agents need rich information of Israel, because pastors know a lot of Israel & the Bible. 17

Ad Campaign 2010 Nov. – 2011 Feb. Media: • Christian Newspapers • Christian Magazines • Professional Newspapers • Christian Websites Good way to expose Israel as a tourist destination and help the agents get more inquiry calls. In 2012 new creative – investment of 1 million shekel IGTO Seoul 18

Travel Fairs KOTFA Travel Fairs B 2 C: 4 times/year in major cities Hana Tour Travel Convention B 2 c & B 2 B IGTO Seoul 19

Israel Booth in Travel Fairs • • IGTO Seoul Mud Mask Event: Twice per day: Number of participants: about 80~100 Vote for wish destination in Israel: “Where do you want to visit most in Israel? ” Jerusalem, Dead Sea > Galilee, Tel-Aviv 20

Hosting 2010, journalists from protestant denominational newspapers 2010, Study Tour for pastors, 50 groups (1, 500 pax), bus & guide provided 2011, delegation of Sarang Church including the senior pastor 2010 -2011, PBC Catholic TV 2010 -2011, Israel Tourism Convention, new tour agents & journalists IGTO Seoul 21

Facebook www. facebook. com/goisrael. kr IGTO Seoul 22

Monthly Quiz Corner : www. goisrael. kr IGTO Seoul 4 -5 simple questions about Israel with gifts. Announcement by email & facebook. 23

MARKETING PLAN 2012 IGTO Seoul

Forecast about Tourism Movement in 2012 Outbound tourism of Korea: Growth up to the highest level of 2007 (13 M) is expected due to the steadily increasing outbound market (expected rate of economic growth: 3. 8%). But it is told that general election (April), presidential election (Dec. ) and the European economic crisis can affect the tourism market negatively. Pilgrimage market: About 20% of growth is expected compared to 2010, unless other serious incidents occur in the region. IGTO Seoul 25

Focus of the Marketing Activities 2012 Existing Activities: Israel Seminars for Church Leaders Agent Seminars: Israel Movie Evening, Israel Study Day Travel Fairs Joint Promotion Agreements Media FAM Agent FAM New Ad Campaign with Special Korean Creative for the First Time Online Promotion (website & facebook) New Activities (tentative): Hosting of a Movie Star Mailing of Newsletter in Korean to churches (every two months) Preparation of a New Brochure(s) in Korean for General Tour to Israel IGTO Seoul 26

Thank You! Gamsahamnida! IGTO Seoul