Travel and entertainment platform to lure “set-jetters” inspired by K-drama
From left, Charles Lee, Senior Director, Agency Sales, head of North and Southeast Asia, Sabre; Jun Shin, head of InterparkTriple’s travel business group; Brett Thorstad, Vice Present, Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales and Airline Distribution, Asia Pacific.
In a move that both companies hope to boost inbound tourism to Korea, Sabre Corporation and InterparkTriple, Korea’s leading travel and entertainment platform, have signed a new long-term, strategic partner agreement.
The travel and leisure services company will use Sabre’s global distribution system (GDS) to significantly enhance its geographic reach, using Sabre’s APIs and travel partner network to offer leading airline, hotel and other travel content, including NDC offers.
InterparkTriple is aiming to help South Korea attract 50 million inbound tourists annually by 2028, including by appealing to so-called ‘set-jetters’; visitors who are inspired to travel after seeing a destination on TV shows or movies. The new deal means InterparkTriple will have more content options at its fingertips to create the right itineraries for their travellers.
“Sabre’s technology is foundational to our growth strategy and will help to ensure we can grow faster than the market, both in Korea and globally, with appealing content that showcases Korea’s unique characteristics,” said Jun Shin, head of InterparkTriple’s travel business group. “We’re confident this will help Korea to fulfil its potential as a tourism powerhouse, making the national goal of attracting 50 million inbound tourists more attainable.”
The company, which revealed its new name last June after a merger of travel platforms Triple and Interpark, plans to continue to develop and expand K-package tours, capitalizing on a growing global interest in Korean culture, and encouraging tourists to explore other parts of the country in addition to the usual visitor hotspots in Seoul.
“We’re thrilled to be working with InterparkTriple on multiple initiatives so we can further expand our footprint in this important marketplace and play an increasing role in South Korea’s burgeoning tourism industry,” said Brett Thorstad, Vice President, Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales and Airline Distribution, Asia Pacific. “You can have the best travel content in the world, but without the right technology partner, it’s impossible to grow in a significant way; it’s fantastic that InterparkTriple has selected Sabre’s GDS to elevate in South Korea and on the world tourism stage.”
South Korea is facing its largest tourism-sector deficit in six years during the first half of 2024, as outbound Korean travelers spent far more than inbound foreign visitors; hence, it will need all the help it can get in inbound.
Data compiled by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) revealed that the travel balance deficit stood at $6.48 billion from January to June, marking the highest deficit for any first half of a year since 2018 when it was $7.83 billion.
Korean tourists spent $14.32 billion during their overseas travels, whereas foreign visitors here spent $7.84 billion, according to the data.
The KTO said the number of inbound visitors reached 7.7 million in the first six months of 2024, which is 91.3 percent of the level seen in 2019 before the pandemic.
The recovery rate for inbound visitors was slightly lower than that of outbound Korean travellers, which stood at 93.4 percent, or 14.02 million people.
However, in terms of the pace of recovery in expenditures, spending by foreign visitors was only 75.4 percent of the amount seen in 2019. In contrast, expenditures abroad by Korean travelers reached 89.2 percent of the level in 2019.
