There’s an interesting trend happening throughout South Korea recently. While many nations are still visiting Seoul and Busan – some of the most popular cities – Taiwanese nationals have become rapidly one of the most sought after for Seoul’s and Busan’s tourism and retail sectors. Retailers/brands from department stores to convenience retailers to luxury brands are now focusing on travelers from Taiwan due to their propensity to spend money, which is creating an incredible shift in those affiliated with the retail space.
This is a rather surprising trend, especially given how quickly it has occurred; only a few years ago, it was mainly the Chinese tourist that ruled South Korea’s shopping area. For many retailers in South Korea, it is now all about diversification and targeting different continuing demographics. Currently, Taiwan has become one of the fastest-growing travel destinations in Asia.
The massive increase in travel from Taiwan to South Korea has been largely attributed to Taiwan’s growing love affair with all things Korean. Taiwan represents a large and important population of youth who have embraced the many aspects of Korean entertainment such as K-drama, K-pop stars, Korean skincare products, fashion trends, and cafes. Many of these visitors are now visiting South Korea in an effort to enjoy their experience through the real world—not just through an online medium. For youth traveling from Taiwan, travel to South Korea is no longer just a sightseeing experience – it has become a culturally encompassing lifestyle experience around shopping, beauty, and modern-day Korean culture.
The retail sector is already feeling their effects on company profits. One of South Korea’s largest Department Store Chains stated that customers from Taiwan account for approximately 50 percent of all foreign visitors sales in the first quarter of this keer’s financial year. Compared to the same period last year, there has been a significant increase in accounability to tourism and the relative value of these sales.
Luxury retail is also experiencing massive increases due to purchases from tourist from Taiwan. Another major department store has revealed that the sales of luxury goods purchased by Taiwanese visitors have reported massive increases year/ year. The following are among the top selling categories of products, purchased by visiting travellers from Taipei or other cities in Taiwan.
Tourism Analysts point out another area that may contribute to this shift in purchasing is global travel costs. They note that airfare and fuel prices are still fluctuating, so long-distance travel to Europe is becoming less attractive to many Asian travelers, and therefore destinations that are geographically closer to Asia such as South Korea are appearing to be more attractive options. The shorter distance combined with the impact of entertainment on travel is making it easier for younger generations of tourists looking for new international vacation destinations choose Korea.
Analysts in retail also see a different pattern for the shopping behaviors of Taiwanese tourists. Retail Analysts in Korea believe Taiwanese tourists spend a greater amount of time within a retail outlet than any other type of tourist and they are recognised to spend extended time examining and checking on products, closely monitoring Korean fashion trends, searching shopping outlets for exclusive K-Beauty or K- Fashion products they cannot easily find in Taiwan.
Because of these differences between Taiwanese tourists and other tourists, many businesses are adapting very swiftly. A number of Korean retailers are working on implementing payment systems used by large numbers of Taiwanese customers, including Line Pay. In addition, many convenience store chains, as well as shopping malls, are attempting to implement payment methods that are user-friendly and familiar to Taiwanese customers so that when they are travelling in Korea, it is easier for them to spend money while they are in Korea.
Additionally, there are already many Korean brands establishing themselves directly in Taiwan. Several department store chains are starting to run pop-up events in some of their stores, offering products from both beauty and lifestyle categories, while also generating buzz about the products well before the tourists even reach Korea.
Statistics available on travel give an idea of the significant size of this trend. Last year, almost two million Taiwanese people travelled to Korea, and thus far in 2014 the number of Taiwanese tourists has increased at a greater rate than other key Asian markets.
For larger cities such as Seoul and Busan, this trend is evolving into something beyond a phenomenon related to travel; many hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, coffee shops and entertainment outlets in both of these cities are now benefiting from the rapidly growing number of tourists from Taiwan who wish to experience Korean culture first hand and spend their money doing so.
Tourism experts expect that in years ahead, Taiwan will be one of the most significant long-term tourism markets for South Korea, due to Taiwanese traveler’s high level of interest in K-culture and high shopping interest (including repeat visiting), making them an extremely valuable market for businesses being developed and expanded as competitors to each other, located throughout the Asia region.
Korean retailers are continuing to upgrade their services and create a more customized experience for their customers through improvements in service levels, expanded payment options and improvements to the level of personal service they provide to customers. This trend bodes well for developing a robust relationship between Taiwan and the Korean tourism industry. In the meantime, for travelers interested in Korean fashion, beauty and skin care, K-music, and K-food, South Korea continues to be a top-tier tourism destination throughout Asia.
