Klook Partners with Korea Tourism Organization to Expand Transportation Access for Foreign Travelers
Seoul – Klook, a global travel and leisure e-commerce platform, has signed a business agreement with the Korea Tourism Organization to make travel more convenient for foreign travelers. On May 31, the Korea Tourism Organization and eight major transportation organizations and business entities in Korea, including Klook, signed a business agreement to "Expand Transportation Access for Foreign Travelers." Klook is the only global OTA among participating companies. With the agreement, Klook will cooperate with the National Express Bus Transportation Business Association and T-Money to establish an intercity express bus reservation and payment system in its application to assist international travelers. Express bus, an important means of transportation for traveling in Korea, is expected to make access to transportation services for foreign tourists easier through its collaboration with Klook. Klook will act as a bridge connecting tourists and Korea’s public transportation system. It plans to utilize its global presence to actively promote express buses while helping foreign tourists easily make reservations with its tech solutions. Supporting 15 languages, 41 payment currencies, and 40 simple payment services, Klook has more than 40 million monthly visitors worldwide. Using the Klook platform, users can conveniently make reservations and payments for travel products anywhere in the world. The utilization of Klook by foreign tourists to explore Korea is seeing a notable increase. In the first quarter, Klook's inbound (foreigners' travel to Korea) sales increased by 63 percent compared to the same period of 2019, exceeding the pre-COVID-19 days. "By having intercity express bus reservations made on Klook, accessibility for foreign tourists will be significantly improved," Klook Korea General Manager James Lee said. "Klook will continue to strive to attract tourists and make traveling in Korea joyful by utilizing its strong technological foundations and global presence." The Korea Tourism Organization will provide an integrated regional travel-transportation service, "Easy Book, Easy Go," on its Korea Tourism website supported in English, Japanese, and Chinese. It introduces major transportation means in Korea to foreign tourists, including transportation recommendations and reservation links to destinations by region and theme. The organization plans to actively implement promotions and marketing campaigns to advocate domestic transportation in collaboration with the relevant industries. Meanwhile, on May 23, the eight participating companies held the “Proclamation of Innovation for Foreign Tourist Transportation Service” at the "Visit Korea Year 2023-2024 Cooperation Launching Ceremony.” Attendees include First Lady Kim Kun-hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyun, Chairman Lee Bu-jin of the Visit Korea Year Committee, Visit Korea Year Ambassador Cha Eun-woo, and approximately 80 tourism companies and associations attended the event hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Visit Korea Year Committee, and the Korea Tourism Organization, to wish success of the "Visit Korea Year 2023-2024." From left: Lotte Rental CEO Choi Jin-hwan, T-map Mobility CEO Lee Jong-ho, T-Money CEO Kim Tae-keuk, SR CEO Lee Jong-guk, National Express Bus Transportation Business Association Chairman Lee Gwang-jae, Korea Tourism Organization President & CEO Kim Jang-sil, KORAIL acting CEO Ko Jun-yeong, Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun, Klook Korea General Manager James Lee, Visa Korea CEO Patrick Storey 이동희 기자 (lee.donghee.ja@gmail.com)transportation organization korea tourism transportation access transportation services
