When planning a trip to South Korea, there are a few factors to consider. First and foremost, travelers must decide what kind of experience they want. Are they looking for a traditional cultural experience? Or are they interested in exploring the country’s natural beauty? Once that decision is made, choosing the right travel package will be easier. As tourism starts to pick up in 2024, startups offering travel and tour packages in Korea are on the rise.
For those who are interested in culture, there are many tour packages in Korea available that focus on the history and traditions of South Korea. These tours typically include visits to palaces and museums and opportunities to participate in traditional activities such as calligraphy and tea ceremonies. As the popularity of Korean culture continues to grow around the world, there will be travel startups in Korea looking to offer the best possible experience for people visiting Korea.
Startups Offering Travel and Tour Packages in Korea
MyRealTrip
Korean travel startup MyRealTrip provides guided tours and various deals and services. These deals and services include entrance tickets, local activities, transportation tickets, accommodations, and rental cars. The company has partnered with Naver Tour, so they will be able to allow travelers to compare and book tours easily. Their platform is known for having many customer reviews, making future customers make the right decision. Users can book hotel reservations and flights through the full-service online travel platform.
In addition, they have raised over $70 million Korean VC firms such as Altos Ventures, Smilegate Investment, and Naver Fund just to name a few.
Trazy
A travel startup in Korea called Trazy is a travel platform where travelers can discover the latest happenings for travel to Korea. It helps foreigners traveling to Korea to find out what they can do and where they can visit. They offer the best deals most conveniently through trazy.com. It is a one-stop travel booking site where you can easily find the latest, trendiest, and newest things to do in Korea at the best price. They have offers from travel activities, tours, performances, concert tickets, beauty make-up experiences, and more.
Their tours give specific itineraries for their tours hour by hour. In addition, they offer detailed explanations of what is included and excluded in the tour package. They have also launched in Thailand for foreigners with the same Trazy experience.
Extriber (Tripstore)
Korean travel startup Extriber is the operator of a mobile tour package recommendation platform Tripstore. It is an app that helps Korean travelers curate a vacation worldwide. Furthermore, they recommend packages from their database, which has over 2 million tour packages. Travelers just need to input their travel dates, budget, number of travelers, and activities they wish to do. Extriber got $8 million in investments from Korean VC firms such as Kakao Ventures and Bon Angels. Their focus for 2024 will be to create new tour packages with Korean online travel agencies. In addition, they will also work with TV celebrities.
WAUG
Korean travel startup WAUG is a travel activity booking platform. Travelers can easily book their travel site’s admission tickets for special events and activities. They started out targeting Korean travelers looking for overseas travel activities. However, they switched to targeting foreigners looking for activities in Korea. Furthermore, WAUG’s voucher ticketing technology enables foreign travelers to book domestic activities on-site easily. They still help Korean travelers going abroad. WAUG even partnered with Universal Studios Hollywood to let WAUG users buy their tickets. In addition, users can book tickets for the world’s popular travel attractions, transportation, restaurants, and tours.
YanaTrip
Korean travel startup YanaTrip offers independent Korean travelers personalized online tours and activities. YanaTrip is for travelers who need to schedule tours and other activities. Therefore, they focus mainly on Koreans who travel throughout the US. Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Moreover, YanaTrip was certified as a creative tourism venture company by the Korea Tourism Organisation, a highly sought designation within Korea. In addition, Yana Trips directly contracts with aggregators and suppliers and is building up inventory around the globe.
Travel Makers
Korean travel startup Travel Makers is a platform that provides customized travel planning and linking with locals. The startup is actively sourcing unique tour guides to offer a wider range of travel packages. They recently launched an app called COVID-19 Free Map with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea National Tourism Organization. It will target visitors once the COVID-19 pandemic slows down. Travel Makers won 2nd place during the travel startup accelerating program hosted by the Korea National Tourism Organization last year.
BED RADIO
Korean travel startup Bed Radio offers Korean travel programs and events for their tour packages in Jeju and Jeonju. Some examples include a rice wine experience for 20,000 won and a Korean liquor wrapping art experience for 35,000 won. The packages are perfect for travelers to Korea as well as locals. Therefore, this is a great way to socialize with locals through special experiences. In addition, Bed Radio offers accommodation in dormitories and private rooms in Jeju and Jeonju.
