PRNewswire
Singapore, July 16: Klook, a leading pan-regional experiences platform in Asia Pacific, has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
The renewed Klook-KTO partnership covers four areas:
1. Supporting the digital transformation of Korean tourism products and businesses
2. Discovering and promoting regional tourist destinations across Korea
3. Launching innovative marketing campaigns and product promotions for free independent travelers (FIT)
4. Building smart tourism solutions, including traveler trend analysis and AI-based tools, to improve the visitor experience and support sustainable tourism growth.
"Korea continues to capture the imagination of travelers around the world, driven by its rich culture, vibrant cities, and diverse regional destinations," says Sunghyeuck Park, President and CEO, Korea Tourism Organization. "Through this partnership with Klook, we aim to make it even easier for international travelers to discover more of Korea, while supporting local tourism businesses in adapting to changing traveler needs."
"By combining Korea Tourism Organization's resources and industry network with Klook's digital platform and international traveler insights, we believe new opportunities will be created for Korean tourism," he says.
Regional destinations: the next growth area for Korean Tourism
While Seoul remains the top gateway city, Klook data shows that international demand is increasingly extending into regional Korea. Bookings for Busan and Jeju grew more than 50% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, faster than the national average.
In its latest mid-year Travel Pulse, Klook found that 73% of APAC travelers say they would visit a lesser-known city specifically to experience a unique local event, festival, or activity.
These findings point to a shift in how travelers plan trips: destination-led itineraries are giving way to experience-led journeys, and travelers are increasingly willing to venture beyond major cities to seek them out.
Through the MoU, Klook and KTO will work together to spotlight a wider range of tourism experiences, raise international awareness of lesser-known Korean destinations, and encourage more balanced visitor flows across the country.
Reaching Millennial and Gen Z travelers through innovative marketing
Klook's traveler base for Korea extends well beyond Asia Pacific, with top origin markets including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, the United States, and Europe. This reach is enabled by an innovative marketing flywheel anchored in Klook's platform, traveler insights, and creator infrastructure.
Klook's Kreator Program, now one of the world's largest travel creator communities, brings together over 30,000 creators across 88 markets, with content generating more than 1.8 billion views to date. Social-led discovery has become a decisive force in how international travelers choose destinations.
According to Klook's Travel Pulse, close to 80% of surveyed travelers have visited a destination and booked experiences specifically because they were trending on social media.
"Korea is already one of the most exciting destinations for international travelers, but there is still a huge opportunity to help visitors discover more of the country, from major cities to emerging regional destinations, " says CS Soong, Vice President of Corporate Development at Klook. "Working closely with KTO allows us to combine digital access, traveler insights, and destination storytelling to create meaningful ways for travelers to experience Korea. At the same time, this partnership will help more Korean tourism businesses connect with international travelers and participate in the growth of the tourism economy."
Klook and KTO will jointly develop marketing campaigns and product promotions across multiple origin markets, tailored to independent traveler preferences and market-specific demand signals.
Building on three years of tourism infrastructure partnership
The MoU builds on earlier initiatives between Klook and KTO to improve travel convenience for international travelers to Korea.
In 2023, both parties signed an MoU focused on improving domestic transportation access for international tourists, which led to a real-time domestic express bus booking service developed in partnership with the Korea Express Bus Lines Association and Tmoney.
In April 2026, Klook launched a real-time rail booking service for international visitors in Korea, enabling travelers to check KORAIL schedules and seat availability, purchase tickets instantly through Klook, and board trains using digital vouchers.
With the renewed MoU, Klook and KTO will continue to strengthen the foundation for broader regional discovery, more balanced visitor flows, and future tourism innovation powered by social, AI, and other digital technologies.
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