Targeting High-Value Business Travelers: MOU Signing and a Customized Sales Push
The Korea Tourism Organization showcased Korean travel at ITB Berlin 2026, the global travel trade show. ITB is the world’s largest B2B travel fair; this year, roughly 6,000 organizations from 160 countries took part.
On March 10, the KTO said it ran a large Korea pavilion from March 3–5 in partnership with 28 organizations, including domestic travel agencies and airlines, the Seoul Tourism Foundation, the Busan Tourism Organization, and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Tourism Organization.
The pavilion drew about 5,000 visitors with hands-on regional exhibits—like assembling a wooden model of the Cheomseongdae observatory—and interactive programs such as a K-culture quiz. The KTO also invited 25 local partners, including German media outlets and travel agencies, to the Korean Cultural Center in Berlin for a tourism briefing and Korean food tasting.
Visits by German tourists to regional destinations have steadily increased and now account for 48% of their trips. About 27% of German visitors to Korea come for business, and these travelers tend to spend substantially more than leisure tourists.
To capitalize on that high-value market, the KTO signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding with German companies and T’way Air to promote business travel to Korea. The agency said it will deepen collaboration to create more high-value inbound demand.
During the fair, participants held 753 business meetings. The KTO expects those talks to generate roughly 33.5 billion KRW (about $25.13 million) in inbound travel sales.
Kim Jung-taek, director of the KTO’s Frankfurt office, said, “Germany is a strategic market with a strong appetite for Korean history and culture and growing business demand. We’ll work to turn that interest into real visits and to boost regional tourism across Korea.”
