"The time when only PSY was famous is over. Now a variety of Korean culture contained in K-pop, drama, film and OTT content is popular worldwide. Unlike when tourists from Southeast Asia, China and Japan mainly visited Korea, the nationalities of tourists have diversified to include the United States, Europe and the Middle East. We need to consider travel products that allow them to better enjoy and experience Korean culture."
Hanatour CEO Song Mi-sun met with ChosunBiz at her office in Insadong, Jongno District, Seoul, on the 3rd and, when asked about the opportunities the travel industry could enjoy from the K-content craze described as the K-pop demon hunters (hereafter Kedehun) era, said, "From the perspective of a large travel company doing inbound, the Kedehun craze was very welcome news." Inbound refers to foreign tourists traveling to Korea. In Hanatour's case, through its wholly owned subsidiary HanatourITC, it offers travel products infused with Korean culture such as tours, experiences and activities for foreign visitors to Korea.
Song earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from Seoul National University. She joined Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2001 and built her career there. After completing the MBA program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2008, she served as a partner at BCG's Seoul office in 2016. She has been the CEO of Hanatour since 2020.
Song emphasized that a travel business that only serves Koreans clearly has growth limits. She said, "Travel platforms that started in domestic markets with larger populations than Korea, such as Trip.com headquartered in China and travel site Traveloka in Indonesia, are competing mainly across the Asian continent," and added, "We cannot continue to grow without exporting K-travel." China's population is about 1.4 billion, and Indonesia's population is about 280 million. By contrast, Korea's population is about 51 million, so a travel business centered on Koreans inevitably faces limits.
Song said there is no boundary between inbound and outbound travel (when a country's citizens travel abroad). She said, "In Hanatour's case, 32 years since entering the Southeast Asian market has built know-how. If you recruit not only Korean tourists but also locals from each country to promote travel to Korea, outbound becomes inbound business." She added, "It becomes a new revenue opportunity proportional to the accumulated know-how. Currently Hanatour can access five places: Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia," and said, "We are seeking partners in each country by forming joint ventures with local companies or investing equity to address practical issues such as culture and marketing." The following is a question-and-answer.
—The travel industry has many variables such as exchange rates. What is the strategy for sustainable growth?
"You must diversify the business portfolio as much as possible. That way you can run businesses that specific risks do not affect, and buy time in those areas. Representative examples are when the COVID-19 pandemic and martial law occurred. Therefore, you must continue businesses targeting various countries to encompass inbound and outbound."
—What other strategies are there?
"For sustained growth, you must continually develop travel products to new regions. In Hanatour's case, it is entering the charter flight business with an Indonesia island product 'Manado.' It will run from next month on the 26th to Dec. 16. This is also part of responding to uncertainty through portfolio diversification."
—Competition among travel platforms such as online reservations and OTAs (Online Travel Agency) is fierce.
"Now it no longer matters whether you are an OTA or a traditional travel company. To create exclusive content to grow the global market, you must actively use digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Especially to better develop customer-segmented travel products suited to the hyper-personalization era, you must use technology well."
—How has HanaPack 2.0, which removed group tour sightseeing and raised prices, been received?
"The sales share of mid- to high-priced HanaPack 2.0 packages based on customer count rose from 8% in 2019 to 32% in the second quarter of 2025. By GMV (gross merchandise value), it increased from 14% in 2019 to 53% in the second quarter of 2025. We plan to introduce HanaPack 3.0 in the future to offer customer-tailored products that further segment the 'purpose of travel.'"
—What are examples of the segmented products?
"They include 'Mingling Tour Mongolia' targeting people in their 20s and 30s and 'Again, Backpack' that evoked nostalgia for people in their 40s and 50s. Examples that align with the hyper-personalization theme include 'Nth trip' products that let you re-experience places you've already traveled to from a new perspective and 'Japan knitting pilgrimage' products for people who like knitting."
—Are there areas where you will apply AI?
"AI is important in the travel industry too. A representative example is 'H-AI.' H-AI is an AI-based multi-AI agent service that easily finds products suited to consumers' tastes or finds travel styles and products consumers want in a short time. If we pass on know-how to the Southeast Asian market in a 'I tried it and it's good, want to try it?' way, it will be easier to export travel services."
—What is the outlook for the luxury tour market?
"In Hanatour's Zeus World case, recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic was faster than the general overseas travel market. The average price per person for products in Japan and Southeast Asia is around 10 million won, Europe is 20 million won, and there are even products priced at 40 million to 50 million won, with Europe accounting for half of bookings. As demand for hyper-personalized theme travel increases, the outlook is good. There are sample products, but they are conducted order-made (Order-made). The fact that they are composed only of what the traveler wants is an attractive factor."
—What is the outlook for the travel industry over the next five years?
"I believe the market will expand as the boundary between inbound and outbound dissolves and they act bidirectionally. If you secure an outbound market by establishing a foothold in the Southeast Asian market and then expand into each country's inbound market, growth potential will be large."