Today, we got an inquiry like below.
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Hi Good day,
Were going to South Korea on Nov.3 -8 2017.
And we would like to have a tour to these ff attraction
Nami island
Petite france
Everland theme park
Trick eye 3d museum
ice museum
Blue House
N-seoul tower
Hello kitty museum
Teddy bear museum namsam cable car
Coex aquarium
Bukchon hanok village
Garden of morning calm …
We wanted to know your rates.
Hope to hear from you.
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We have many experiences of getting this kind of inquiries.
But, unfortunately, our winning ratio is very low because our price is higher than their expectation.
Why?
We realized that this kind of people are looking for the better, or similar price with group tours, which are departing from their countries.
Unfortunately, we cannot win against the overseas group tour operators because
1) they included 1-3 compulsory shopping places per day for their commission revenue…such as ginseng show room, amethyst shop. This expected commission makes the ‘per person tour price’ lower.
2) they can make the group of 20 people, or more. Therefore, they can get ‘the economy of scale’. The more passengers >> the cheaper international flight tickets and the lower hotel room rates. This is the another reason why their tour price looks better though you exclude the international airfare.
3) (mostly) they choose 3 star hotels, which are not popular by individual tourists, or located at not convenient place. This also makes the total group tour price lowered.
“OK, I understood. But, still, I don’t want to join the group tour from my country because I don’t like the packed schedule. And I don’t like to eat the not-good-quality sharing meal in the tour. Any other solution? Unfortunately, your rates are beyond my budget because we are just 2 people.”
Then, just come to Korea and check in at the hotel. Probably, you will find the brochures at the corner of the lobby. (Or, you can ask the hotel concierge desk.) You will find this kind of brochures; Seoul Day Tour, Half-day DMZ Tour, Nami Island + Petite France Tour. At the prices of USD 50-80 per person, you can join the tour. But, please note that you need to accept following inconveniences.
1) After picking up you (or, before they picking up you) they might pick up another guests for 40 minutes – 1 hour.
2) After the tour, you need to cooperate to visit special shopping center for the travel agent’s commission. Though you don’t need to buy, this session is not avoidable.
Another choice is to find a person, or some business entity who are being listed on TripAdvisor.com
In Korea, the foundation of travel agent requires several conditions such as 1) capital money of KRW200,000,000 (equivalent to USD182,000), 2) maintain insurance for failure of providing tour/service, 3) operating the office,..
But, we found some individuals, or entities on the internet…are not qualified for this requirements.
In this respect, even the licensed tour guide cannot sell the tour/service directly because the contract between the guest and the guide cannot be accepted by government and insurance company.