HanaTour 2017 Seychelles aims for greater visibility in South Korea |23 June 2017
‘Seychelles - the heaven you must visit before you die’ was the slogan used to attract visitors to the island destination’s stand at the HanaTour International Travel Show 2017 in South Korea. The four-day event was held at the Kintex Exhibition centre in Goyang city from June 8 to 11.
The opening day, dubbed a ‘Family Day,’ was reserved for travel trade partners and members of the press, allowing them to visit the stands and conduct meetings with representatives of various travel destinations.
The three-day international show that followed provided the general public with the opportunity to discover the exhibits. Interested travellers could also book travel packages, while availing of special offers.
Seychelles’ delegation at the 11th HanaTour International Travel show comprised the director of digital marketing, Vahid Jacob, and senior marketing executive Amia Jovanovic-Desir from the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) head office, as well as representatives of the STB Office in South Korea, headed by Julie Kim.
The Seychelles’ stand proved to be quite an attraction, as the delegation had found innovative and tangible ways to showcase the products on offer to the Korean visitors. In addition to photos and videos showcasing the heavenly beauty of the island destination, visitors were invited to take a sip of the delicious Vanilla tea made in Seychelles and hold the legendary coco-de-mer, the largest nut in the world and also endemic to the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Additionally, visitors could partake in a social media event by taking photos at the stand, with the possibility of featuring among 20 lucky winners of a Bluetooth speaker.
“Seychelles is highly reputed in the Korean market as an upper-end honeymoon destination, but we are now trying to expand the market to include affordable family holiday, niche, and incentive group travels while maintaining the luxury image. The Seychelles stand and the promotional activities were designed to appeal to this aspect,” said Ms Kim.
To emphasise the fact that Seychelles caters for the needs and taste of travellers from all market segments - from celebrity extravagant to budget-friendly - visitors to the Seychelles stand were reassured that the island destination also has affordable accommodation options from small guesthouses to self-catering establishments.
As interest in the destination mounted, the Seychelles’ delegation were also faced with numerous and frequently asked questions including - Where is Seychelles located? How do we get there? And why should we choose Seychelles for our holidays? This confirmed the strong need for continuous education and training of agents in key cities, so that they understand what makes Seychelles totally different from other competitive island destinations.
“Focusing more on targeted promotional activities, in collaboration with solid based companies are areas that we need to strongly consider in the future, with the aim of generating promising growth and potential visitor numbers in the medium term,” said Mrs Jovanovic-Desir.
The senior marketing executive believes that building a close working relationship with key partners that are pushing for twin destinations would also be a plus for Seychelles as it targets more visitors from South Korea, where they can enjoy a holiday safari combined with a dream holiday experience, surrounded by a clean and untouched environment setting.
The fact that there are adequate airlines serving the Seychelles route, presenting travellers with a wider option, it only remains for the destination to be continuously positioned as a must-visit holiday location in the minds of potential Korean travellers.
“Seychelles could benefit from a good share of the market segment that our close competitors are extracting. From their facial expressions while visiting our stand it could be confirmed that the South Koreans want to explore the beauty of our magical islands. This could be achieved by increasing our visibility in key cities and tapping into the right consumer base and appropriate market segments,” said Mrs Jovanovic-Desir.
The Seychelles stand caught the attention of numerous Korean media such as JoongAng Ilbo, MK News and The Korea Travel News among others at the HanaTour International Travel Show. Many Koreans – from honeymooners to retirees - also showed interest in visiting the island nation and even made reservations on the spot.
Mr Jacob, who was visiting South Korea for the first time, said he sees great potential in the South Korean market.
“With a large affluent population and more than 90% of the population online, I strongly believe that we should invest more in digital marketing in this market and greatly increase visibility of the destination online. To that effect we are planning on launching several major influencer campaigns and online competitions on the market this year,” said Mr Jacob.
HanaTour is one of the largest travel agencies in South Korea and annually holds the HanaTour International Travel show, also known as HITS, at the Kintex Exhibition centre in Goyang city.
This year the travel show saw the participation of almost 1,000 stands showcasing some 760 different travel destinations and companies from across the globe. The event also attracted some 100,000 visitors which was 5 percent above last year’s figures.