The findings come from a secret inspection by the Seoul Metropolitan Government of low-cost package tours, in which foreigners acted as government inspectors. It is part of Seoul’s initiative to combat “price gouging” – a term used to describe tour packages at unreasonably low prices, where tourists are often taken to stores and pressured into buying expensive products such as cosmetics, nutritional supplements and duty-free items.
The results showed that some of the 5-day, 4-night budget tours had itineraries that focused more on shopping than sightseeing, with the number of times the tour guide took the tourists to shopping malls ranging from 4 to 8 times during the 5-day itinerary.
Seoul is trying to crack down on cheap, low-quality tour packages to improve its image and create healthy competition among tourism businesses.
In addition, the tour guide’s attitude towards tourists varies based on the number and type of goods the tourists on the shopping tour purchase. In some cases, tourists are pressured to make purchases at the beginning of the tour to help the tour guide meet sales targets and receive “commissions” from the stores.
There were even cases where tour guides prevented tourists from leaving the shopping mall for 40 minutes until one of the group made a purchase. Therefore, tourists do not have much time to learn about the culture, history, and famous places in Korea while being forced to buy goods, which negatively affects tourism activities because in the long run, it will damage the image of the destination.
Seoul city officials said the survey results cannot be generalized to all products because it is a selective survey of some low-cost package tour products. However, the city government is determined to establish tourism order and will take strict actions against illegal activities that affect the quality of tourism in Korea in general and the image of Seoul as a tourist destination in particular.
South Korea aims to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2027, with a return visitor rate of 70%.
The city government will send the results of this survey to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea to prevent the sale of unsecured tourism products. If necessary, they may consider legal measures. The survey results will also be notified to the embassies of relevant countries and call for appropriate measures to discipline erring travel agencies.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted a comprehensive survey of Seoul tour packages offered in the Chinese market, which accounts for the majority of tourists to South Korea. The results showed that of the 3,097 Seoul tour packages sold on four major online platforms in China, up to 85 percent were suspected of promoting dumping tours.
Autumn is the peak tourist season in Korea so policies are gradually becoming stricter.
Earlier, on March 3, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would step up its crackdown on unfair tourism practices, also known as "dumping tours". This move is aimed at preventing the situation from damaging the city's reputation amid a surge in foreign tourists.
"We will take strong action against illegal activities that negatively affect tourism businesses and work to improve the quality of tourism to make Seoul a more attractive city," said Kim Young-hwan, director-general of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Administration.
