Where a Trip Begins: Seoul International Travel Mart 2023

Say “travel fair” and you may picture people handing out souvenirs in traditional dress, or stands with pictures of resorts and brochures to take home. The doors are open to the public, and much of the pleasure is in seeing what’s there.

Seoul International Travel Mart looks like a travel fair at first. Its main work happens earlier in the life of a trip. People who assemble and sell tours come here to see what they can put together.

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How DDP Changed the Feel of the Event

The 2023 event ran from June 20 to 24, with its in-person meetings at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. I’d been to an earlier event at COEX in Gangnam, and the change of venue was noticeable.

The building’s curves and wide routes gave people room to move between meetings. A substantial number of businesses took part, but the space felt less crowded.

That matters when people have to sit down and talk. A crowded stand can work at a public exhibition. At a meeting it can be difficult to hear, and a long walk to the next table eats into a tight schedule. At DDP, a separate area gave people somewhere to open a laptop or collect their thoughts between sessions.

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The Part of Tourism Visitors Rarely See

The event is little known outside the industry. Most of its central program is business-to-business.

At the tables, overseas buyers meet Korean sellers on a schedule. They discuss what a tour might contain and the terms on which it could be sold. The people at those tables come from travel agencies, hotels, regional tourism organizations and companies that supply part of the experience.

A route discussed here might show up on a travel agency’s website several months later. By then a traveler sees one finished offer. The Travel Mart shows some of the decisions that have to be made before it gets there.

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A Ninth Edition as Travel Started to Recover

The 2023 Travel Mart was the ninth. The event had continued during the pandemic, though the tenor of those meetings was different.

This edition felt like a restart. There were noticeably more overseas buyers in the room. Conversations moved quickly to what could actually be offered and sold as demand came back.

The program included a familiarization tour for overseas buyers, an opening ceremony, business meetings, promotional stands and a seminar on Seoul tourism. The advance tour gave buyers a chance to try things they could later discuss putting into a package.

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How the Meetings Worked

Face-to-face meetings ran at DDP’s Art Hall on June 21 and 22. Video meetings followed on June 23 and 24, keeping the hybrid format that had become familiar during the pandemic.

The meetings were quieter than I expected. Interpreters helped at the tables, and buyers moved around according to a schedule. In a short slot, a seller had to make the essentials of a product clear.

That gives the explanation more work to do than the design of a booth. A photograph can make you want to see a destination. Selling a tour means being able to explain the route, the price and who will run it. Some conversations moved from an introduction to the itinerary and the terms.

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What It Takes to Put a Trip Together

A trip may feel personal once you’re on it. To make it available, somebody has to bring together the flight, the hotel, transport, things to do and the local organizations that support them.

At the Travel Mart you can watch some of those links being made. A tourism board may work with a hotel. An agency builds the itinerary. Another company sells it abroad. A traveler may encounter the work of all three in a single package.

For a smaller travel company, an appointment can be one of the few chances to meet several overseas buyers face to face. It can lead to a second conversation and sometimes to an actual sales agreement.

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The Difference the Room Made

I found this edition easier to move around than earlier ones. At COEX I’d found it hard to hear when nearby booths were busy, and there weren’t always good places to sit between meetings.

At DDP I could step into a nearby area to make notes before heading to the next table. That made the time between meetings feel like part of the day the organizers had planned for.

In a room built around scheduled conversations, those small choices make a difference.

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What I Could See in a Short Visit

I couldn’t stay long. In the time I had, I could feel a kind of concentration different from the excitement of a public travel fair.

One person was preparing what to sell the next season. Someone else was working out how to enter a market. Seeing them there brought home how much work comes before a trip becomes something someone remembers fondly.

Travel becomes visible when people start booking and going. At the Seoul International Travel Mart, you can see the conversations and agreements that set it in motion.