A delegation comprising of officials from the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO), Jeju Tourism Organisation, Jeju Tourism Association, and Jeju Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, visited India from October 13- 16, 2015 to promote Jeju. Jeju has already received 1,165 people from India in 2014. Given the year-on-year growth being experienced by KTO, Jeju too has set its sights on ambitious growth and is keen to scale this number up substantially by the end of this year. Globally, Jeju attracted 12 million visitors in 2014.
Jung Hwan Lee, director general, Jeju Special Governing Province said, “Indian tourists enjoy Jeju Island’s natural beauty, spa and healing, and the theme-park.”
Jeju has a host of factors that make it a great fit for the Indian market. Foremost is that it is visa-free. Ji Hyeon Yang, chief manager, Jeju Tourism Organisation said, “Indian travellers visiting Jeju need not apply for a visa if they are staying for up to 30 days”. To avail the visa free facility, one can fly to Jeju Island via Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The island also offers various options for Indian food. Lee added, “Indian restaurants, Baghdad and Rajmahal offer a good choice of Indian food and can cater to those who require vegetarian food.”
Indians prefer to travel to Jeju during the summer months from July to August or during fall, between September and November. “This is quite in contrast to our south east Asian markets that tend to travel to Jeju during spring and winter,” Lee said.
Indian tourists spend US$1,250 on their stay in Jeju, which is slightly lower than the global average spend of US$1,605. The average length of stay in Jeju is about three days as part of a six day Korea itinerary. Currently Jeju’s market mix comprises of largely FIT, while package tourists contribute to a little over 24 per cent of travellers. Byungsun Lee, director, Korea Tourism Organisation, New Delhi said, “We are working with our airline partners to ensure that there are very competitive packages for Korea and for Jeju in the Indian market. We are witnessing a good response from Indian travellers.”
The Jeju Island tourism entities will be partnering with KTO’s India office in order to notch up awareness about its natural treasures, the fact that it is a world-renowned world heritage site and its adventure activities. “MICE operators will also appreciate the wide choice of adventurous team building activities possible in Jeju,” said Jin-Hun Cho, marketing director, Jeju Convention and Visitor’s Bureau while presenting the various incentives available to MICE planners who might be interested in planning MICE movements to Jeju.