Kyobo Book Centre has unveiled a travel map that selects and introduces local eateries, shops and cultural spaces. Local travel curation once led by travel agencies and platforms has spread through fashion and retail to bookstores. As travel consumption that follows brand-picked places, instead of portal searches or blog reviews, takes hold as a trend, some analysts say the standard for travel information is shifting from "where to go" to "who chose it."
According to the industry on the 31st, Kyobo Book Centre recently released a local curation project, "Kyobo-gatta Gaboljido." The first regions for this project, in collaboration with the Busan select shop Balansa, are Daegu and Ulsan. It introduces each region's restaurants, cafes, shops, cultural spaces and hidden spots in the form of a map.
Kyobo Book Centre said it planned this project in line with the trend of discovering one's own tastes and deeply experiencing local culture. A Kyobo Book Centre official said, "We started from the idea of extending the cultural joy and inspiration gained inside the bookstore to the outside," adding, "Based on a frontline employee's idea that 'it would be nice if a trip begins at the region's bookstore,' we connected books, regional culture and local spaces." The official added, "Starting with this Gyeongsang edition, we are also reviewing an expansion of the local curation project by using our nationwide store infrastructure."
The industry views this project as a move linked to changes in travel consumption, rather than simple marketing. Whereas travel information used to center on searching for tourist attractions, blog reviews and guidebooks, "curation-type travel" in which brands and platforms select and propose specific local spaces has been spreading recently. A travel industry official explained, "A culture is beginning to take root that values a brand's discernment in proposing options suited to a traveler's tastes, rather than just providing place information."
This follows a familiar formula for travel platforms. A representative example is Hanatour's "Fukuoka knitting trip" package. On a trip set in Fukuoka, Japan, participants visit Amuhibi Studio and Yuzawaya, regarded as sacred sites for knitters, accompanied by a guide specializing in knitting. The travel experience is designed around the traveler's hobbies and tastes rather than simple tourist spot visits.
Travel platform My Real Trip is expanding beyond flight and lodging bookings to strengthen local tours and experiential products. It is increasing the share of experience-focused products such as Jeju yacht tours, snapshot photo shoots and regional experience programs. Frip is also operating regional classes and group experience products in its domestic travel category.
A travel industry official said, "In an era when a single search brings a flood of information, consumers tend to prefer curated selections," adding, "Preferences are rising for content that includes local life and experiences and for visiting hidden spots."
The same trend applies in the fashion industry. Global Musinsa is introducing major Seoul commercial districts such as Seongsu, Hannam, Myeong-dong and Hongdae as areas with distinct styles through its "Digging Seoul Style Map" content. In effect, a fashion platform is serving as a kind of city guide that presents both Seoul's shopping spaces and local culture.
Domestic travel demand is also on the rise. According to the Korea Tourism Data Lab, as of April this year, cumulative domestic visitors (nonresidents of the area) totaled 1,003.9 million, up 5.2% from a year earlier. During the same period, domestic tourism spending rose 5.1% to 52.0704 trillion won.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) presented "local re-creation" as one of this year's tourism trends. It forecast that everyday elements such as regional cuisine, old establishments and lifestyle culture will be reinterpreted as tourism assets, and that trips seeking a region's unique sensibility and tastes will increase.
The industry cites synergy with brand image as the reason non-travel brands are dealing with regional and travel content. If consumers are given the impression that "if this brand chose the region, spot or space, it's worth trusting and visiting," a brand can strengthen its discernment and tastes at the same time.
A fashion industry official said, "As consumer touchpoints shift from products to experiences, it is becoming more important for brands to propose tastes through spaces and content," adding, "Since consumers trust recommendations from brands with their own tastes and discernment more, travel curation is highly likely to create synergy that expands a brand's tastes and image."
Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said, "There is a strengthening tendency to prefer 'digging-type consumption' that delves deeply into specific themes and tastes rather than content that simply lists information," adding, "If brands that consumers trust combine with travel content, it can generate synergy that expands brand experience, so non-travel brands' travel curation products are also likely to increase going forward."