At the Korean Stone Art Museum in Seongbuk District, Seoul, Professor Ha Young-jun from Dongbang Culture University, dressed in traditional hanbok, swiftly completed an ink wash painting, eliciting gasps of admiration from the watching foreigners. Although it was a hands-on ink painting session, the visitors seemed more inclined to observe. They remarked, “We must bring our clients here” and “Our clients interested in collecting oriental art would love this experience.”
In a nearby meeting room, foreign participants engaged in serious discussions with representatives from local Hanok hotels. As the hotel representative showed them pictures of the hotel, they asked questions like “Who was the architect?” and “From which era is this porcelain?”
These participants were travel designers from 15 countries, including Brazil, India, the U.K., the U.S., and the UAE, specializing in designing and selling “luxury tourism” programs. Luxury tourism involves exclusive experiences such as renting an entire clothing store in Gangnam for a private shopping spree or hiring a Korean chef for a family meal on a yacht on the Han River. Luxury tourism typically involves spending at least 3 to 4 million won ($2,000-$3,000) per day on experiences alone, excluding transportation and shopping costs.
Seoul City hosted the Connections Luxury Seoul event from June 23 to 26, bringing together local hotel and restaurant representatives to meet these foreign experts. All 30 participants paid for their flights themselves. The event, first held in 2022 to pioneer the premium tourism market, saw first-time participants from Brazil and Mexico this year. Over four days, they experienced Korean culture, including making gimbap, and held business meetings with local hotels.
They noted a noticeable increase in clients expressing a desire to visit Seoul. Each participant brought detailed business plans.
“Our clients are tired of cities like Paris, London, and Dubai and now want to visit the Ssangmun-dong Market from the Netflix drama ‘Squid Game,’” said Carolina Villela from Brazil.
David Perez, 44, from Mexico, said, “We used to receive no inquiries about Korean tourism, but in the past two to three years, we’ve seen clients preferring Korea over Japan or China. We’re considering creating a ‘gourmet tour’ featuring places like Korean BBQ restaurants.”
The key to luxury tourism, they emphasized, is uniqueness. “Wealthy clients don’t care about costs. They want authentic experiences,” they said.
Megan Abdelli, a 29-year-old travel agency head from France, plans to explore Sokcho in Gangwon Province after the Seoul event to find experiences that will appeal to French clients. “I think a product that includes visiting temples in Seoraksan and tasting seafood at a beach restaurant would be excellent,” Abdelli said, noting that French elites would willingly spend 2000 to 3000 euros for a day or two in Sokcho.
A local travel agency staffer said, “A luxury tourist wanted to hike Bukhansan like a local, so we hired a forest guide who knew the names of all the trees and packed a Korean-style hiking lunch. They paid 2 million won for a 6-hour hike.” Another noted, “A client insisted on eating ramen by the Han River, so we rented a convenience store by the river for an hour,” adding, “We’ve also seen cases where tourists booked a private temple stay for their family or received acupuncture at a traditional Korean medicine clinic.”
According to the Korea Tourism Organization, about 180,000 luxury tourists visited Korea last year, with the top 1% who used first-class seats or private jets spending an average of 21.16 million won per person, excluding transportation and shopping costs. A local tourism industry insider said, “Attracting one luxury tourist is more profitable than attracting 100 regular tourists.”
Professor Kim Dong-hee from Sookmyung Women’s University’s Department of Culture and Tourism said, “The trend of luxury tourism has started in Seoul. We need to expand the market through aggressive marketing.”
