Retail News CRM

Tag: Korea

  • Lotte.com launches China app

    Lotte.com launches China app

    South Korea’s Lotte.com has launched a Chinese mobile shopping mall service known as ‘china.lotte.com’ to meet demands of consumers chasing the ‘Korean Wave’.

    Growing numbers of Chinese are buying goods online from offshore sources – a practice referred to as ‘Haitao’ locally. And Korean goods – especially in the beauty and fashion categories – are enormously popular among the younger demographic.

    China.lotte.com, launched Wednesday (August 19) is’ exclusively focused on customers from Greater China. After global.lotte.com launched in February last year, Lotte spent a whole year preparing for the Chinese version of the site.

    More than 10,000 lines have been selected for China.lotte.com and another 5000 local Chinese lines are being added progressively.

    Chinese customers can shop using regular payment services including Alipay, UnionPay, Tenpay, PayPal and local Chinese credit cards.

    Lotte.com’s global business team manager Hwang Hyun Jung says China.lotte.com considered even minute details to meet the expectations of the rapidly growing Chinese overseas shopping market.

    “Through meticulous translations and user tests via Chinese supporters, this service is mainly composed of local-friendly user interface,” she said.

    Lotte.com has attracted “hundreds of thousands followers and supporters” via Weibo during the last six months in preparation for the launch.

    The company is also promising to work with Korean small businesses to help expose their brands and products to Chinese consumers via the portal.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Korea on sale

    Korea on sale

    In a bid to revitalise the national tourist market and domestic economy, withering in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, Korea will go on sale.

    Branded the ‘Korea Grand Sale’, the 10 week long promotion will run from August 14 to October 31.
    Officials say that the sale will be the largest in scale since the event started.

    “We advanced the date of the Grand Sale, which usually took place in winter, out of desperation. We hope the sale can continue to bring tourists back to Korea instead of ending as a one-time event.”

    Criticised for offering discounts only to foreigners, officials said they are persuading participating companies to give discounts to local consumers as well.

    “Businesses in traditional markets and some convenience stores are showing positive responses towards the idea.”

    Benefits such as discounts for transportation and free WiFi modem rental services will be provided. In addition, the Korea Grand Sale Event Center located at Doota Square in Dongdaemun will provide translation services, information about tourism, beverages and special events.

    Han Kyung-ah, the executive secretary of the Visit Korea Committee, explained the intentions of the Korea on sale event: “We intend to attract tourists headed to Hong Kong and Japan towards Korea by providing abundant benefits.”

    Various promotions introducing Hallyu content and traditional culture will also occur.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Shopping malls revamp amid onslaught from online retailers

    Shopping malls revamp amid onslaught from online retailers

    As the brick-versus-click-sales war intensifies, shopping malls in Singapore are plotting aggressive strategies to stay ahead in the game while they continue to battle falling tourist arrivals, the oversupply of retail space and growing competition for consumers’ attention.

    Their renewed game plans include reshuffling the tenant mix, exploring more flexible leasing terms with tenants, revamping marketing campaigns and even forming alliances with online sales platforms — all of these aimed at getting consumers to shop more as they spend longer hours at their malls.

    “Landlords are adjusting their marketing strategies and tenant mix and repositioning their properties towards offering more entertainment, services and food and beverage (F&B) outlets, aiming to remain relevant in the midst of shoppers taking to online shopping as well as changing consumer preferences,” said DBS Vickers analyst Derek Tan.

    Mall operators are making more space for restaurants, cafes and bars as well as entertainment and services-oriented businesses, such as education, beauty and wellness, as these remain insulated from the online onslaught, while department stores and retailers that sell products such as books, toys and fashion continue to be hit by the surge in e-commerce.

    Malls now allocate around 35 to 40 per cent of net lettable area to F&B, entertainment and services, compared with about 25 per cent around five years ago, Mr Tan noted.

    The increased focus on F&B, entertainment as well as beauty and wellness is also demand-led, as young Singaporeans today are well-travelled and seek more in terms of enhancing their personal appeal and well-being.

    “Singaporeans today are more sophisticated and want to explore more when it comes to F&B and beauty and healthcare. This is attracting new F&B players from Japan, South Korea, China, the United States and Europe to enter Singapore in a big way. Several Korean and Japanese cosmetic companies are also coming in,” said Mr Wilson Tan, chief executive of CapitaLand Mall Trust Management. He also emphasised the group’s strategic focus on necessity retail that defends it from disruptions in shopper traffic and volatility in sales revenue.

    Besides the onslaught from online retailers offering low-cost shopping and free delivery services, a strong Singapore dollar has prompted Singaporeans to shop abroad as they travel for holidays, making it more challenging for mall owners to attract footfall.

    “Over time, the way people shop will change … In the past, we did more conventional advertisements. As we move ahead, we see mobile and digital platforms becoming a lot more prevalent, and that is where we will be looking at, using new technology to bring people into the shopping malls,” Mr Tan said.

    Malls are scurrying to identify ways to embrace new sales channels that allow traditional and online retailers to coexist and complement each other. Some are exploring the option of partnering with e-commerce players such as Qoo10.

  • Commissary reintroduces cooked poultry products in South Korea by Labor Day

    Commissary reintroduces cooked poultry products in South Korea by Labor Day

    Commissary shoppers in South Korea will begin to see cooked poultry products back on shelves by Labor Day.

    On July 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a revision to Korea’s embargo to allow heat-treated poultry and poultry products from the U.S. Learning the news, the Defense Commissary Agency quickly placed orders with its U.S. suppliers to restock the shelves of commissaries in South Korea with cooked poultry products.

    “Frozen dinners, pot pies, nuggets, lunch meats, franks, Lunchables and other popular cooked poultry products will begin to arrive by early September,” said Wayne Walk, DeCA’s zone manager in Korea. “With school starting back up, this is great timing for parents packing lunches and for anyone looking for easy-to-prepare meals.”

    South Korea’s embargo had restricted the entry of all poultry products into the country since last December when the U.S. announced the presence of avian influenza in live poultry flocks in Oregon and California, followed by additional outbreaks in other U.S. states.

    Uncooked poultry from the U.S. is still restricted by the embargo, but DeCA has alternate sources for uncooked poultry to replace many of the items it previously received from U.S. suppliers.

    “We offer fresh, uncooked chicken and eggs from Korea,” said Walk. “We have whole chickens, chicken breasts, boneless thighs and drumsticks. These products are not frozen and are ready to take home and cook immediately.”

    Commissaries also began offering chicken from Australia this month.

    “Shoppers will find Steggles of Australia chicken in the freezer section in tray packs,” said Walk. “Steggles is supplying our commissaries here in Korea with chicken products that have historically been popular with our shoppers – skinless, boneless breasts and thighs; tenderloins; wings and drumsticks.”

    “We’re working continuously to provide our customers with the very best service and product assortment,” said Walk. “The embargo has been an opportunity for DeCA to work a little harder to ensure military members and their families stationed in Korea have the products they need when they use their commissary benefit.”

    The USDA advises consumers to always follow proper handling and cooking processes when working with poultry. Food safety and avian influenza information can be found in the USDA Food Safety and Avian Influenza Questions and Answers, April 2015.

    Lees ook:

  • Lotte Group head issues apology for feud, vows reform

    Lotte Group head issues apology for feud, vows reform

    The head of South Korea’s Lotte Group yesterday vowed a new era of corporate governance and transparency as he apologized for the family feud engulfing the beleaguered retail giant.

    In an address broadcast live on TV, group chairman Shin Dong-bin also sought to deflect growing anti-Japanese sentiment surrounding Lotte, which was founded in Japan, but does 80 percent of its business in South Korea.

    Talking in accented Korean, the native Japanese speaker twice bowed deeply before the cameras in a show of contrition for the bitter and very public battle for corporate control that has pitted him against his father and elder brother.

    “The current dispute has occurred as we have failed to make efforts to improve corporate governance and enhance transparency,” Shin said.

    “We will be bold in reform in order to address concerns held by the people of Korea, our shareholders, contractors and employees,” he added.

    At stake in the Lotte feud is control of a sprawling conglomerate with 80 units across South Korea — spanning retail, amusement parks, hotels and chemicals — and total combined assets of about US$90 billion.

    Among other reforms, Shin said he would push for the public listing of the conglomerate, which effectively controls the South Korean business, while also streamlining the group’s complicated web of cross-holdings to enhance transparency.

    “Lotte belongs to Korea,” the chairman said, stressing that the group’s South Korean interests dwarfed the Japanese-based side of the business in terms of employee numbers and sales.

    “There has been little flight of capital back to Japan,” Shin said, adding that earnings made in South Korea had been plowed back into the domestic business.

    Lotte was founded in Japan in 1948 by Shin Dong-bin’s father — South Korean-born Shin Kyuk-ho, now 92 — and grew from a seller of chewing gum to a confectionary giant. It expanded to South Korea after Tokyo and Seoul normalized relations in 1965.

    The row within the Shin family has fanned the embers of the anti-Japanese public sentiment the group has long contended with in South Korea — largely due to the family members’ awkwardness with the Korean language.

    The battle for control of the conglomerate has pitted Shin Dong-bin against his father and his elder brother, Shin Dong-ju, with accusations of dirty tricks and attempted boardroom coups.

    Lees ook:

  • E-Land Group to open large shopping mall in China

    E-Land Group to open large shopping mall in China

    South Korean retail giant E-Land Group said Monday that it plans to open its first shopping mall in mainland China later this year in a joint venture as part of its strategy to tap deeper into the world’s biggest market.

    E-Land Group and Malaysia-based Parkson Group have agreed to establish a joint venture and open “Parkson-New Core Mall” in Shanghai in November.

    The South Korean company said it will be in charge of management of the joint venture, with a 51-percent share.

    Parkson Group is one of the largest department store operators in the Asian region, with 127 stores in China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

    It is the first time for the South Korean retailer to run a large multiplex shopping mall in China, while E-Land now operates around 7,300 apparel stores in the neighboring country.

    E-Land said the Parkson-New Core Mall will house its own fashion, houseware, shoes and accessory brands, as well as American and European luxury goods.

    “China’s retail industry has already reached a saturation point,” said an official from E-Land Group. “We will introduce a new type of retail store in the market.”

    Rival retailers including Lotte Group and Shinsegae have already entered the Chinese market but failed to produce outstanding results due to fierce competition.

     

  • Korean retail sales recover post MERS

    Korean retail sales recover post MERS

    Korean retail sales are returning to normal as the impact of the MERS outbreak fades.

    Data released by South Korea’s finance ministry shows combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae Co rose 0.9 per cent in July, year on year.

    That contrasts with a drop of 11.9 per cent in June, as shoppers stayed home to avoid possible exposure to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.

    South Korea’s government has officially declared the MERS outbreak over.

    Sales at major discount store chains also improved, but still recorded a year on year decline. In July they fell 1.9 per cent which compares favourably with a fall of 10.2 per cent in June.

    In its statement, the ministry said while consumption was showing signs of a recovery, there was “insufficient” improvement in the service industry.

    Lees ook:

  • Korea’s GearX finds favour online

    Korea’s GearX finds favour online

    Korean underwear brand GearX says sales of its functional sportswear online is booming – especially in Japan, China, Southeast Asia and America.

    While not revealing actual sales figures the company says its online mall is succeeding because the brand is building popularity by maintaining reasonable prices for products that boast excellent functions, “contrary to a number of global functional wear brands that started out as offline businesses and formed high price range”.

    Now, Lee is planning to expand GearX’s product range to include functional yoga outfits, running and cycling apparel.

    GearX is running its shopping mall in multiple languages including English, Chinese, andJapanese using the Global Service of cafe24, Korea’s largest shopping mall solution provider. GearX’s products are also available on global online shopping malls such as Amazon.com of America and Qoo10 of Singapore.

    GearX’s products include base layer, rash guard, and underwear; all of them offer fast-drying, UV blocking, and antibacterial features. GearX applies a seamless sewing technique on the clothing to achieve excellent flexibility. Thus, all of GearX products fit the body without extreme tightness.

    “From the very beginning, we focused on developing a highly functional fabric that relieves heat, maintains coolness, and repels insects. As a result, we have become Korea’s first, and only, functional clothing manufacturer to acquire a patent for the fabric,” said Sang-hun Lee, president of GearX.

    “After successfully developing the fabric, he had also developed and introduced a sewing technique that would not irritate the skin considering the the fact that the product is in direct contact with the skin.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • E-Mart calls time on closures

    E-Mart calls time on closures

    South Korea’s largest discount supermarket operator E-mart says it is recommitting to the China market and will stop closing stores there.

    E-Mart once operated 27 discount grocery stores in the mainland, but for the last five years has been constantly returning its model and shutting down underperforming outlets.

    However this week, an E-mart executive signalled a change of course.

    “After the August 3 closure of a branch in Shanghai, there will be no additional shutdowns of the remaining eight branches in east China,” a media spokesperson said.

    E-Mart, part of the Shinsegae corporation, says the restructuring and closures will reduce its net loss by 35 per cent this year and a greater focus on eCommerce will help it approach a hitherto elusive profitability.

    “The region continues to be one of the most profitable regions and some of our branches there are even posting a profit. China is a market that we cannot give up,” the spokesperson said.

    In 2011, E-Mart lost US$95 million on its China operations. It has not made a profit there since and in the first three months of 2015 it reported a $10.4 million loss.

    Despite the company’s poor fortunes in China, E-Mart is planning to open its first store in Vietnam in December and is also targeting Mongolia.

  • Mers outbreak dents Korea retail sales

    Mers outbreak dents Korea retail sales

    South Korea retail sales slipped in June – a predictable result of the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

    As South Korea’s shunned larger retail outlets to reduce the risk of potential exposure to the illness, discretionary spending fell. Some spending on essential goods moved online.

    South Korea’s government agency Statistics Korea says retail sales in June were worth 29.34 trillion won, about US$25.15 billion, which was 0.6 per cent lower than in the same month last year. It was more than 2 trillion won less than May’s spending.

    “The Mers outbreak caused shoppers to shy away from large markets where people converge, which effectively hurt overall sales,” a Statistics Korea spokesman said.

    However, last week the government officially declared May’s outbreak to be over, after 186 infections and 36 fatalities.

    A breakdown of the figures shows the fall in sales affected mostly categories where shopping could be postponed – appliances and computers were down 5.7 per cent year on year and clothing down nearly 10 per cent.

    Department store sales fell 12.4 per cent and discount department store sales down 9.5 per cent.

    Online spending rose 26.6 per cent in May, while convenience store sales soared 34.6 per cent and supermarket sales rose 4.4 per cent.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Burberry Beauty Box enters China

    Burberry Beauty Box enters China

    British luxury apparel brand Burberry has opened two more Beauty Box stores in greater China.

    It follows the opening of Beauty Box’s first Asian store in Korea last December in Seoul’s Coex Mall.

    Burberry Beauty Box concepts are now trading in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

    In Hong Kong, the store has opened in Times Square at Causeway Bay. The store closely follows the Burberry Beauty Box flagship in London’s Covent Garden.

    The new Beauty Box concept focuses on make-up, including Burberry Eyes, Lips, Face and Nails lines, fragrances for men and women, including My Burberry, and assorted luxury accessories.

    It includes a digital Lip & Nail Bar, a 95 degree screen broadcasting Burberry catwalk shows, and the My Burberry Digital Experience that lets customers digitally interact with the brand.

    Customers can order in-store monogrammed labels for 90ml bottles of My Burberry Eau de Parfum and My Burberry Eau de Toilette to create an exclusive, customised gift.

    Lees ook:

  • Lotte China loses a trillion

    Lotte China loses a trillion

    Reports from Korea suggest Lotte Group has lost more than 1 trillion won (US$853 million) in China in just three years.

    Data assembled by CEO Score shows Lotte China made heavy losses between 2011 and 2014 as South Korea’s fifth largest company struggled to understand the Chinese consumer and build market share.

    Last month, Lotte said it would close four loss-making stores in its Mainland China network – all in in East China’s Shandong Province.

    Lotte is said to be losing market share in Mainland China unable to differentiate itself in the middle ground between local retail chains and the growing power of online retailers such as Alibaba and JD.com.

    CEO Score’s data shows the losses are growing, not narrowing. It started with 92.7 billion won in 2011, reached 250.8 billion won in 2012 and a massive 580.8 billion won in 2014.

    Lotte Mart has 120 stores in China, 116 in Korea, 39 in Indonesia and 10 in Vietnam.

    The company is family owned with the leadership locked in a bitter power struggle and two brothers compete to take control from their 93 year old father.

    Lees ook:

  • McDonald’s make Minions

    McDonald’s make Minions

    Sales of products affiliated with animation characters – such as ‘Minions’ and the cast of Frozen – are soaring.

    According to McDonald’s, Happy Meals with Minion toys are in high demand in South Korea.

    The ‘Minion Happy Meal Special Set’, which consists of five Minion toys, one Happy Meal, and four coupons for Happy Meals were all sold out the minute they were released on July 23, with people queuing for hours before their 3pm release. With stock limited to 100 per store, the Minions disappeared fast.

    From July 24, McDonald’s started to sell Happy Meals including one Minion toy each.

    “It is hard for us to reveal how many Happy Meals are sold in a day, but ever since we gave out Minion toys, sales definitely went up.”

    McDonald’s said Minion-themed products such as the ‘Minion Shrimp Beef Burger’, ‘Minion Yellow Muffin’, ‘South Pole Lemonade’, ‘Ba-nana Shake’ and ‘Ba-nana McFlurry’ are also popular among customers.

    McDonald’s is planning the second release of the ‘Minion Happy Meal Special Set’ for August 9, at 3pm. The five Minion toys will be different from the previous event. The fast food chain is expecting another early sell-out.

    McDonald’s is not the only company using cute Minions in marketing.

    Sam Lip General Foods released four types of Minions bread in time for the movie’s release.

    Not to be outdone, Binggrae’s ‘Yomamte’ yogurt ice cream is affiliated with the beloved characters from Disney’s ‘Frozen’. According to Binggrae, sales of the product tripled compared to 2013.

    The places selling the ‘Frozen‘ Yomamte’s were shared on online communities, and consumers gave cute nicknames to the products. Named after the characters printed on the packages, Elsa, Anna and Olaf, the popsicles were named ‘El-mamte’, ‘An-mamte’ and ‘Ol-mamte’.

    Officials from Binggrae are looking into expanding their product line.

    “There were six different designs from ‘Frozen’ printed on the packages in the early stages of the renewal, but we are planning to expand the designs to 23 different types so that consumers can have a wider variety of choice.

    Lees ook:

  • Lotte Group Founder Loses Japan CEO Title Amid Succession Battle

    Lotte Group Founder Loses Japan CEO Title Amid Succession Battle

    Turmoil has erupted atop South Korea’s largest retail giant Lotte Group, shining a spotlight on one of the biggest family feuds the country has seen.

    The week began with 92-year-old Lotte founder Shin Kyuk Ho and his eldest son flying to Japan to fire a group of senior managers at a key unit, a maneuver that backfired and left the patriarch sidelined the next day. By Wednesday, Shin Dong Bin had successfully fended off his elder brother’s attempt to derail him from taking over control of the group.

    At stake is leadership over a conglomerate with 80 units across Korea, operating everything from department stores, amusements parks to hotels with 112 trillion won ($97 billion) of assets. Though the country saw sibling rivalries tear up Hyundai Group more than a decade ago, power struggles at businesses of Lotte’s size are rarely displayed in public in a corporate landscape dominated by family-run businesses, known locally as the chaebol.

    “It was an unexpected move as everyone had assumed that the founder had already selected Shin Dong Bin as his heir,” said Chae Yi Bai, an analyst at corporate watchdog Center for Good Corporate Governance. “This puts Lotte’s succession plans back in debate.”

    The drama at Lotte Group comes at a time when concerns over dynastic succession is fresh in people’s memories. Less than two weeks ago, Samsung Group narrowly defeated billionaire activist investor Paul Elliott Singer in a hotly-contested proxy fight, paving the way for the founding Lee family to tighten its grip over the nation’s largest conglomerate.

    Back at Lotte, co-chairman Shin Dong Bin apologized to employees on Wednesday for the turmoil brought by the dispute and urged them to put faith in him.

    “I am very sorry for causing uncertainties and turmoil to you all — the corporate value that Lotte has held up for a long time should not be rattled simply by an individual’s family issues,” 60-year-old Shin said in a note to employees, a copy of which was distributed to the media.

    The founder’s act to support elder son Shin Dong Joo, 61, had been unexpected as the younger Shin had been heir-apparent after executive titles including the vice chairman role at the parent group were stripped from Dong Joo in January.

    Lotte declined to make Shin Kyuk Ho or Shin Dong Joo available for comment.

    Shares Spike

    Shares of Lotte’s listed South Korea affiliates spiked on speculation the contesting Shin brothers would snap up the shares to solidify their control, Kim Tae Hong, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea Co. said by phone.

    Lotte Shopping Co. rose for a second straight session to end 6.6 percent higher by the close of trading in Seoul, the largest gain since 2010. Lotte Confectionery Co. closed up 4.7 percent, after jumping as much as 16 percent. The benchmark Kospi index ended little changed.

    In an earlier statement sent to media Wednesday, Lotte Group said the older son and his father’s July 27 act to fire executives at the closely held Japan unit Lotte Holdings Co. didn’t follow legal procedures.

    Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings’ board of directors held a meeting a day after to nullify the dismissals, and decided to move the founder into an honorary chairman role, according to the statement. Such a role typically carries no specific duties or voting rights.

    The older Shin brother’s attempt to gain influence over the Japan unit is aimed ultimately at capturing control over the entire group, due to the conglomerate’s shareholding structure, according to Chae.

    Attack Blocked

    “Whoever holds Lotte’s holding companies in Japan pretty much holds the entire group because of how the group’s corporate governance structure is designed,” Chae said. “It’s too early to say who won the crown, but Shin Dong Bin seems to have successfully blocked the attack this time around.”

    The founder holds a 28 percent stake in Lotte Holdings Co., Dong Joo holds 20 percent and Dong Bin has 19.1 percent, while a company called Kwang Yoon Sa holds 27.65 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Kwang Yoon Sa, a packaging company also based in Tokyo, is said to be owned by the founder, according to the Korea Economic Daily.

    Lotte Holdings spokeswoman Ruka Mizuno declined to comment on the governance structure of Lotte Holdings and Kwang Yoon Sa. when reached by phone, saying the companies aren’t listed.

    Shin Kyuk Ho, born in Ulsan, South Korea in 1922, started Lotte in Japan in 1948 after completing his university studies there. The company started off selling chewing gum in postwar Japan and quickly grew into a major confectionery company.

    When diplomatic relations normalized between Korea and Japan in 1965, Shin began investing in his home country and established Lotte Confectionery Co. in 1967, according to the Seoul-based Center for Good Corporate Governance.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Big differences in Asian travel spending

    Big differences in Asian travel spending

    Koreans travel abroad most frequently, Chinese spent the most money and Japanese visit the most faraway places most often.

    Those are findings from a study by Visa card, 2015 Survey on Travel Plans, in which 13,603 people from 25 different countries shared information about their travels.

    According to the results, Koreans traveled an average of five times during the past two years, ranking the highest in travel frequency – well above the global average of three times.

    Around 90 percent of the Korean respondents answered they had travelled abroad within the past two years. But as travellers, Koreans seem to be of frugal mind when it comes to expenses. They spent an average of $1808, which was way below the global average ($2281). They also have a tendency to set a budget and stick to it. Korean travelers paid 46 per cent of their expenses before departure, and 75 per cent of the payments were made by credit card.

    On the other hand, the average travel expense for Chinese travelers was $4780 – more than double the global average. Unlike Koreans, Chinese people had a tendency to decide what they wanted to do on the trip first and then calculate the expenses.

    While 36 per cent of Korean travelers and 34 per cent of Chinese travellers visited Japan, 36 per cent of Japanese travellers visited the US, showing their preference for long distance travel. The average time taken to get to the destination was longer for Japanese travelers (nine hours), compared to eight hours for Chinese travellers and six hours for Korean travellers.

    The average travelling expense for Japanese was $3165, which was less than the average of Chinese.

    In terms of accommodation, 41 per cent of Korean travellers and 62 per cent of Chinese preferred hotels with more than four stars, while 49 per cent of Japanese preferred one to three star hotels.

    The portion of Koreans who preferred package tours (47 per cent) was similar to the portion of those who liked to travel freely (52 per cent). However, more than half of the Chinese (65 per cent) and Japanese (77 per cent) preferred tour packages.

    Ian Jamieson, head of Visa Korea, said it was impressive that Korean travellers prepare well and frequently go on trips and the purchasing power of Chinese travellers was also interesting.

    Lees ook: