TBM Staff - Mumbai Korea Premium Travel Consultant (KPTC) webinar was organised by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on August 4 in association with TravelBiz Monitor. Through this webinar, KTO wants to assist and train a select group of travel agents across India and certify them as Korea premium travel consultants for the year 2021-22. To carry out the entire exercise KTO has collaborated with TravelBiz Monitor as their knowledge and technology partner. A large number of trade partners from different parts of the country participated in the webinar.
Setting the tone of the online event, YG Choi, Director, KTO, New Delhi Office, said that the e-event is not just a mere destination presentation on South Korea. “It’s the beginning of our long term certification program with the Indian travel trade. The pandemic has made people cautious about selecting a destination. Taking due cognisance, we brought in several changes with respect to our destinations and need to share these and here the KPTC program comes into play,” he said. Choi also said that international travel is gradually opening with the ebbing of Covid-19 cases globally. “I sincerely believe outbound tourism will gather pace by the end of this year and India will significantly contribute to it,” said an optimistic Choi.
Sandeep Dutta, Marketing Manager, KTO, New Delhi Office, who gave a presentation and explained about KPTC and its advantages. The webinar informed the attendees about KPTC,and said that it is a formal accreditation program by KTO. “A ‘Korea Premium Travel Consultant’ is a specialised travel advisor who is highly skilled with South Korea destination knowledge and is able to handle the diversified request of their customers,” the webinar noted.
The e-event explained about advantages (for a KPTC member), and said that it’s highly advantageous for any Indian travel agent as they are able to directly get connected with South Korea’s tourism board office in India and become a part of a closed group of individuals. The webinar informed the attendees that a KPTC member will receive the benefits such as regular destination updates and training, direct assistance from KTO for any consumer query, opportunity to participate at various South Korea FAM trips organised by KTO, joint marketing support for South Korea tour packages, Korea packages sales-related incentives and prizes. On Covid situation, the webinar informed the participants that South Korea is one of the few countries in the world that deftly handled the crisis.
The webinar threw light on culture, attraction, infrastructure, connectivity, and the nightlife of main destinations like Seoul, Busan, Jeju-do and Gyeonggi-do. It also touched upon secondary destinations viz Gangwon-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do. Each destination both in primary and secondary categories is unique in its own way.
The e-event also shared an interesting piece of information to the attendees and said that any tourist wearing a traditional Korean cloth can enter any South Korean national monument for free. “One should remember this as it will save you money,” the webinar noted. On food, the webinar said that South Korea has more than 100 Indian restaurants. The webinar also touched upon the connectivity and said that in pre-Covid time Korean Air and Air India used to operate direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai. “Other airlines also used to operate one-stop flights from different cities of India,” it noted. The country has 15 airports, out of which eight are international. But, most of the Indians use Incheon International Airport, Gimhae (Busan) Airport, Jeju Airport while visiting South Korea.
To become an eligible Korea Premium Travel Consultant one has to be a participant in the webinar. The other criteria are, the travel product that they will curate should have a 7-night itinerary and cover all aspects of travel (like flights, routing, hotel name tour attraction etc). Best entries will be awarded and inducted into the KPTC program for the next level.
At the end of the webinar, a barrage of interesting questions was asked by the participants, which clearly speaks volumes about the interest the event generated.
