May - the California Tourism Industry Website

Korea Monthly Activity Report
Visit California Korea
May 2012
Prepared by: AVIAREPS Marketing Garden Korea
I. Market Intelligence / Market Conditions
A. Economy
Compared with the previous month, Korea’s growth in exports slowed down due to the
situation in the EU.
In March, equipment investment continued an overall upward trend showing
improvement in transportation sectors, however construction investment remained weak.
In addition, production of mining & manufacturing and service industries showed
relatively sluggish performance.
Private consumption in March declined slightly, but the consumption-related sentiment
index continued to improve. The growth rate of retail sales index recorded 0.0%, down
from the previous month (5.4%) and a decrease of 2.7% on a month-on-month basis.
In April, the trade balance recorded a surplus of $2.15 billion, slightly down from the
previous month ($2.45 billion). Exports registered a growth rate of -4.7%, a decrement
larger than the previous month (-1.4%) and influenced by the reduced number of working
days and the base effect of some items.
During April, stock prices decreased slightly, but financial markets maintained a
relatively stable pace. Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose to 1982.0 as of
the end-April, down 32.1 points from the previous month, influenced by the situation in
North Korea. The KRW/USD exchange rate registered 1,134.2 won, similar to the
previous month (1,137.8 won).
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B. Outbound Travel Market
According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the number of Korean outbound
travelers in April was 1,018,645, an increase of 17.4% compared to the same month
(867,487) in 2011. The total number of Korean outbound travelers from January to
April was 4,388,713, up 7.2% from the same period (4,095,816) in 2011.
According to Korea Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Korea Tourism
Association (KTA), the number of Korean outbound travelers in February was 368,962, a
9% increase compared to the same month in 2011. Travel agencies Yellow Balloon,
Online Tour and Very Good Tour showed over 30% increases in February.
C. Competitive Environment
Rendez-Vous Canada was held at Edmonton Expo in Alberta, Canada from May 13 to 16.
About 1,500 sellers, buyers and media from all over the world participated.
The 38th Germany Travel Mart was held in Leipzig, Germany from May 12 to 15.
About 160 people in the tourism industry from all over the world participated and shared
information about the German tourism market. Korea Tour, Dream Tour, M&Service
Tour, Very Good Tour and Hana Tour participated from Korea in this year.
D. Consumer Trends
Credit card use by Koreans traveling abroad climbed to the second highest record to date
in the first quarter this year. Overseas card use of Korean residents recorded $2, 27
billion, which is the second highest figure after the all-time high record set in the third
quarter last year ($2.30 billion) according to the Bank of Korea. The number of people
using credit cards overseas and the amount purchased per card increased in line with the
spike in number of Koreans traveling abroad. Outbound Korean travelers increased
11.3% from the previous quarter (3.03 million people) to 3.37 million people. The
amount of purchase per card was $464, up 2.4% from the previous quarter’s $453.
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E. Travel Trends
The Yeosu Expo in Korea just kicked off in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province and will run for
three months starting May 12. It is the second international exposition ever held in
Korea, following the one that took place in Daejeon city in 1993. The event is expected
to boost the economy and contribute to protecting the world's marine resources with new
ideas and agendas.
F. Media Trends
Though Google is the most powerful and most widely used
G. Airlift
search engine, it has not been very successful in the Korean
market because of the dominance of local web service
companies like Naver, Daum and Nate. As a result, Google
Korea is trying to strengthen its presence and recently held a
media conference to unveil a Korean-version social networking
service app called Google Plus as well as K-Pop Hub, a
communication channel between K-Pop stars and their fans.
Google Plus is a social networking service operated by Google
with a shared login scheme with other Google services like
Gmail and YouTube. With the launch of the app, Google
Korea plans to expand the connectivity among various Google
services, in a bid to attract mobile and social media users in
Korea into Google Plus. Google is also trying to enhance its
Google search experience with the newly introduced feature of The Knowledge Graph,
which guides users to effectively search for what they want with relevant suggested
results realized by a search information algorithm from Google’s database.
British Airways will resume flight service between Incheon and London Heathrow from
December 2, six times a week (except Thursday) on a Boeing 777 aircraft (219 seats).
Currently, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines operate the route daily. Korean Air has also
serviced Incheon and Gatwick flights three times a week since April 28.
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Korea's international air passenger traffic surged 22.6% in April from a year earlier due to
a sharp rise in visitors from Japan and other countries, and more Koreans going abroad.
The number of international air passengers came to some 3.75 million, the highest
number for the month of April, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and
Maritime Affairs. The previous record was reached in April 2011, when numbers hit
3.07 million. The Ministry attributed the growth to a rise in the number of Japanese
visitors arriving in the country during the national holidays of Golden Week, and Koreans
going overseas to places like Southeast Asia.
Jin Air will launch regular flights to Yantai in Shandong Province, China from July 5.
The route between Incheon and Yantai is the airline's 11th international flight. The
budget airline will operate a B737-800 with 183 seats on the route four times a week on
Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Jin Air is offering round-trip tickets from $90
to celebrate the launch. The airfare does not include fuel surcharges or taxes.
Jeju Air will fly a new route between Incheon and Qingdao from June 22 to become
Korea's first low-cost carrier to do so. The carrier is selling 20 round-trip tickets for $50
for each flight departing from June 22 to July 18.
Korean Air has announced the launch of direct flights between Incheon International
Airport, Seoul and Madrid, three flights per week on a B777-200 aircraft (total of 261
seats) and depart Seoul Incheon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Asiana Airlines officially announced its connecting flight service launch between Gimhae
and Incheon for international transit to further enhance passenger benefits and maximize
the convenience of outbound travel departing from Busan and Youngnam province.
Asiana Airlines will operate the service once in a day, departing for Incheon at 11:50 AM.
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II. ACTIVITY UPDATE
A. Travel Trade Marketing
A-1. Major Sales Calls
Mode Tour: S\ince Mode Tour is
publishing summer special brochures,
showcasing FIT tour products of all
regions worldwide, VC Korea offered
$500 for allocating California contents.
Two main packages for San Francisco
and Los Angeles were introduced along
with the VC Korea Guidebook, logo and
website URL.
United Airlines: As United Airlines is
planning to launch “United Vacations,”
VC Korea had a meeting with Mr. BK
Park to discuss the scheme. Agreed to
launch it from September with key FIT
travel agents and hold a FAM tour
inviting the top sellers. VC Korea will
offer partial AD fee and sales incentives
through a sales contest.
MK Tour: Following Pow Wow 2012, MK Tour had an opportunity to experience
Mauiva’s West Wonder product, which includes most popular regions of California. As
opposed to coach tours, Mauiva uses a private jet to reduce transportation time and
increase traveler’s comfort, VC Korea and MK Tour had a discussion to promote the
product with key MICE and high-end tour operators.
Asiana Airlines: The 2 nd largest national carrier will kick off its daily flight between Seoul
and Hawaii from July 10. Since many Koreans prefer to see as many as destinations when
traveling to the US, Asiana Airlines will lauch “Hawaii-California” tour products with key
trade partners. VC Korea helped develop the package by offering key attraction
information.
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Pan Pacific Tour: Pan Pacific Tour is a tour operator that has been handling a series of
Hyundai Automobile groups to the USA for years. Since there is a Hyundai automobile
plant in Atlanta, the original itinerary included Atlanta, Eastern USA and Canada, so VC
Korea met the agent to include California in the program. As a result, the itinerary will
include Los Angeles and San Diego from this spring.
A-2. Hana Tour International Travel Show
Period: May 18-20, 2012
Venue: KINTEX
Hana Tour Internatinal Travel Show, an annual
B2C travel fair, was completed successfully.
Hana Tour initially expected 55,000 consumers
for three days but in total, 72,000 visitors attended,
an incease of 52% compared to the previous year.
In terms of sales, Hana Tour announced that
8,000 tour packages were sold on the spot
including 300 bookings for US destination. VC
Korea purchased two booths and shared the space
with three partners: Disneyland, LA Inc, and SF
CVB. Since the Disneyland Korea Representative
office has withdrawn from the Korean market,
Justin Kim from Disneyland Anaheim visited to
keep the booth and responded customers’ inquires
regarding Disneyland. Apart from Disneyland,
many partners from USA mainland participated
such as Casa Resorts, Premium Outlet, Oregon
and Portland Tourism, who do not have Korean representation. Following the show, VC Korea
shared the results and feedback with other in-market stakeholders for next year’s participation.
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A-3. California Booking Contest with Singapore Airlines for “SIA Holiday
California”
Period: May 1 – July 31, 2012
Participating Travel Agents: “Singapore Airlines SIA Holiday California” 10 Travel
Agents (FIT Team) - Hana Tour, YB Tour, Tour Baksa, Interpark Tour, Lotte JTB,
Hana Youth, Very Good Tour, Online Tour, Segyero Tour and Daemyung Tourmall
No. Travel Agent SIA Holiday California AD URL
1 Online Tour http://onlinetour.co.kr/event/view.asp?idx=1448&_E_=20044
2 Tour Baksa
3 Interpark Tour
4 Hana Tour
http://www.tourbaksa.com/promotion/promotion_view.asp?idx=1588&
sitecode=US&jType=
http://tour.interpark.com/event/event_view.aspx?seq=3953&region=00
7&
http://www.hanatour.com/asp/promotion/autopromo/ap-
20000.asp?promo_code=P06620&hanacode=FIT_airtel_body02_best_
06
5 Segyero Tour http://usa.segyero.com/?c=gongji&no=2166
6 Hana Youth
8 Very Good Tour
http://www.hanatour.com/asp/promotion/autopromo/ap-
20000.asp?promo_code=P06751&hanacode=FIT_backpack_body01_r
ecommend_02
http://www.verygoodtour.com/Event/EventView.aspx?evtseq=969&me
nuCode=1940105
9 YB Tour http://www.ybstour.co.kr/event/2012/0417_us/120417_us_event.asp
10 JTB
http://www.lottejtb.com/xhtml/plan/templete/templete_A.xhtml?PLAN
_SEQ=787
To boost sales and encourage travel agents to promote California, VC Korea launched a
California FIT booking campaign with Singapore Airlines. As part of the campaign, the
participating travel agents are currently running California online AD on their website. The
URL of the AD and the captures are as follow:
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Online Tour
8

Tour Baksa
9

Interpark Tour
10

Hana Tour
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Segyero Tour
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Hana Youth
13

Very Good Tour
14

YB Tour
15

Lotte JTB
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A-4. Asiana Airlines Co-op - California Sales Campaign
Period: May 1 - June 30, 2012
Participating Travel Agents: 16 “Asiana Pak" Consortium Travel Agents –Top Travel, YB
Tour, RedCap tour, Lotte Tour, Lotte JTB Tour, Boumlsom Tour, Tour Mania, Onnuri
Tour, Jau Tour, Tour 2000, KRT, SK Tourvis, Very Good Tour, Online Tour, DD Tour,
and Tourmall
VC Korea began a sales campaign with Asiana Airlines targeting its 17 consortium travel
agents. So far, 15 out of 16 travel agents have executed new online AD on their websites to
promote CA tour packages for this campaign. The AD URL and captures are as follow:
Travel Agent California Asiana Co-op Online AD URL
Tour 2000
http://www.tour2000.co.kr/event_new/Event_View.asp?tt_seq=962&GET_EVENT_CD
=E2
Lotte JTB http://www.lottejtb.com/xhtml/plan/templete/templete_A.xhtml?PLAN_SEQ=781
Bomul Tour http://www.bomultour.com/event/eventpage/event_2012ev_mizu.asp
Tourmall http://www.tourmall.com/eventlist/new/event_view_goods.asp?event_idx=913
Jau Tour http://www.jautour.com/promotion/autoMdView.asp?idx=1426
KRT
http://www.krt.co.kr/event/eventView.asp?bType=기획전&seq=703&gotp=해외
여행&bArea=미주
Very Good Tour http://www.verygoodtour.com/Event/EventView.aspx?evtseq=974
SK Tourvis http://www.tourvis.com/Event/event/12042701/index.html
RedCap Tour http://redcaptour.com/planned.vw?method=activeView&pj_seq_no=1469&catCd=
YB Tour http://www.ybtour.co.kr/event/Overseas/2012/0511_usa_cal/index.asp?seq=640
Online Tour http://www.onlinetour.co.kr/event/view.asp?idx=2057&_C_=21598
DD Tour http://www.ddtour.com/promotion/promotion_view.asp?pidx=197
Tour Mania http://www.tourmania21.com/event/?mode=view&event_id=225&page=1
Onnuri Tour http://www.onnuritour.com/event/event_sub.asp?eventnm=2268
Top Travel http://www.toptourmall.com/list.php?category=1220
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Tour 2000
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Lotte JTB
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Bomul Tour
20

Jau Tour
21

KRT
22

Very Good Tour
23

SK Tourvis
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RedCap Tour
25

YB Tour
26

Online Tour
27

DD Tour
28

Tour Mania
29

Onnuri Tour
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Top Travel
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B. Communications
B-1. Media Monitoring (Clippings and Publicity Calendar)
In May, Visit California Korea secured PR coverage in a total of 16 publications, with an
estimated circulation of 13,230,000 and an estimated advertising value of US$ 247,000.
VCA Korea distributed the following press release to key media representatives in Korea and
followed up to ensure coverage.
May 16: California Breakfast Locations in Napa
[Press Release Summary]
Preparing the body for hours of wine tasting along Silverado Trail or trekking the back roads of
Napa Valley’s vineyard-strewn mountains requires serious sustenance. Famed breakfast
sandwiches and green eggs and ham, as well as traditional winemakers’ breakfasts, are just
some of Napa Valley’s decadent and nutritious morning fare.
Bed, then breakfast
At Calistoga’s Chateau de Vie, bed and breakfast guests dig into a classic winemaker’s
breakfast consisting of fresh pastries, eggs
scrambled with fresh tarragon and triple
crème, brie and wild mushroom duxelles,
paired with a glass of Napa Valley
Chardonnay.
Downtown Napa’s Inn on First serves an
ever-changing breakfast menu including
herbed focaccia and eggs with basil aioli,
roast rosemary potato with soft baked eggs
and a roasted tomato tart. The Inn’s
proprietors ensure that returning guests enjoy
a new dish each day and every visit.
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B-2. Media FAM
(1) Mr. BH Lee’s Hand Printing Ceremony at Walk of Fame, LA Hollywood California.
Mr. BH Lee and Mr. SK Ahn, the two so-
called “National Actors of Korea” will be
invited by the production company,
Looking East for a hand & foot printing
ceremony at the Walk of Fame in front of
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on June 23.
Details of the events planned are as follow:
June 23:
Hand & Foot Printing Ceremony,
Walk of Fame
Red Carpet Ceremony & Opening Ceremony
VIP Reception
June 23 to 24:
Korean Film Festival at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
June 24:
Korean Food Festival (Roy Choi is also invited)
VC Korea has negotiated with Looking East to sponsor the accommodations for VIPs and
staff of this ceremony, a total of 30 rooms for 4 nights, in exchange for VC’s exposure on
official collaterals and all photos related to the event. The details of VC Korea’s expected
level of exposure is included in the Project Brief. (Asiana Airlines will sponsor air tickets
for the group) VC Korea is working with LA Inc to confirm the accommodation.
VC Korea has been communicating with Look East Festival to ensure that the logo and
URL are inserted into the official collaterals.
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(2) Allure Online & Offline Special Travel Book in Korean Language
With the launch of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program for Koreans in
November 2008, the number of Korean FIT to California has
increased 41% in 2010 compared to the previous year. Also, thanks
to the increased airlifts, the routes to visit California are also
expanding. Since Korean office ladies are looking at the US as an
increasingly appealing destination for their summer holidays, VC
Korea will work with top fashion lifestyle magazine, Allure, to
produce an in-depth California travel guide of major tourist
attractions, hotels, restaurants, shops, entertainment, activities, etc.
VC Korea participated in “Allure Travel White Book – 100 Ways”
which will be distributed to more than 120,000 consumers in Seoul.
Allure Travel White Book will be developed to cover various overseas destinations, hotels,
offer travel tips etc., so travelers can carry it around as a personal guidebook.
VC Korea created a total of 10 special California pages, covering major tourist attractions,
shops & activities, fun contents & interesting angles, and a so-called “10 ways, 10 tips and
10 spots!”
In addition to this offline travel book, Allure will also create iPad & iPhone applications on
June 4th so that the contents can be downloaded to iPhone based smart phones and the iPad.
Topics for California
(1) 10 Ways to Enjoy San Francisco (SF’s hot tourist spots, attractions & bohemian type of
streets information)
(2) 10 Tips for Shopping in LA (Best ways and tips to discover hot shopping deals for lady
travelers, and recommended shopping spots)
(3) 10 Ways to Taste Napa Winery (Napa winery introduction with various California wine
selections)
(4) 10 Natural Spots for Luxury Healing (Healing spots in national parks or the great nature
surrounding California)
(5) 10 Artistic Spots for Art Lovers (California’s top galleries, museums and complex’s)
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(3) Taste of California Korean Media Roundtable
VC Korea will be holding the “Taste of California” media roundtable with the California
State Board of Agriculture to create a strong presence of California agricultural products in
the Korean market. There will also be a cooking demonstration, ‘Taste of California’ with
celebrity chef Edward Kwon
VC Korea will invite 20 to 25 influential
Korean press, mostly food editors from
fashion/beauty, lifestyle, luxury, consumer
travel magazines and daily newspapers and
influential food bloggers. It will be held at
Mixed One, a California style restaurant
owned by Chef Edward Kwon.
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Program Run Down will be as below;
09:30 – 10:30 a.m. Venue set-up
10:40 – 11:00 a.m. Meet & greet
*California-themed drink (or chilled California wine) to be served.
11:00 – 11:05 a.m. Welcome remarks by Secretary Ross
11:05 – 11:10 a.m. Remarks by one of California Agriculture Associations
11:10 – 11:30 a.m. Presentation on California Agriculture Products by Secretary Ross
11:30 – 12:00 p.m. Demonstration on “Taste of California” by Chef Kwon
12:00 – 12:45 p.m. Lunch & Networking
12:45 – 13:00 p.m. Closing & Giveaways at the exit
B-3. Press Office - Media Liaisons
Visit California Korea made 17 press calls to major travel trade newspapers, daily
newspapers and magazines to pitch California feature ideas as follow:
1. Mr. Choi Seung Pyo, Korea Travel Times
2. Ms. Yang Bora, Korea Travel Times
3. Ms. Chun So Hyun, Travie
4. Mr. Yang Jae Pil, Global Travel News
5. Mr. Park San Hyun, Yonhap Imagine
6. Mr. Seo Da Hee, Hana Traveller
7. Ms. Jung Da Woon, Hana Traveller
8. Ms. Chae Eun Mi, Elle
9. Ms. Park So Young, Esquire
10. Ms. Lee Mi Hye, VOGUE
11. Ms. Guem Da Mi, Style H
12. Ms. Kim Ji Sun, Marie Claire
13. Ms. Hur Yun Sun, Allure
14. Ms. Kim Eun Ryoung, Luxury
15. Ms. Lee Jae Youn, Noblesse
16. Ms. Jung Hwa Seo, LAUM (Samsung Membership Magazine)
17. Mr. Kim Myun Joong, L’officiel
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C. Technology
C-1. Co-op online promotion for consumers
Web & SNS Marketing with Korean Air
VC Korea has been actively discussing with
Korean Air teams to conduct a series of CA
online events for a long-term campaign. VC
Korea also negotiated with Korean Air about
utilizing the airline’s online marketing tools
which already has a large number of Facebook
fans, Twitter followers and web members.
Here is an outline of a consumer promotion that VC Korea is working on with Korean Air.
Event Title: Romantic California! (Tentative)
Objective
Target
Marketing Tools
for promotion
and exposures
Stages of the online marketing planning
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
◦ Promote CA as the
most romantic
destination
◦ Couples and
Honeymooners
Period(tentative) Mid July
Event Outline
◦ Korean Air’s
Travel information
site for consumers
travel.koreanair.com
◦ Widely expose CA
brand message and image
◦ General Internet Users
Korean Air’s SNS Tools
(Facebook & Twitter)
facebook.com/KoreanAir
Around at the end of
August
◦ Increase ticket sales
of CA gateways
◦ Cover the winning
couple’s trip story
◦ General Internet
Users
◦ Korean Air’s official
(main) website
Koreanair.com
September ~ October
◦ The CA promotion plan will focus on various online marketing mix
activities, which offer a lucky draw to win a romantic trip to CA and
instant promotions such as quizzes, California giveaways, voting, and/or
contests, etc through the partners’online (Korean Air’s) marketing tools.
◦ Those online activities will run via Korean Air’s social media channels
and website where several types of VC Korea ad banners will be shown,
and linked/ redirected to VC Korea website or microsite, where the full
California travel story and more information is availible.
◦ For Phase 3, VC Korea and Korean Air will focus on increasing airline
tickets and booking to travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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Co-op online event with Asiana Airlines
VC Korea is working on conducting a co-op
online promotion with Asiana Airlines from
June 12-30. Asiana Airlines will distribute an
e-DM to encourage the engagement of
visitors, being embedded with VC Korea’s
AD banner. For the grand prize winner,
Asiana Airlines will sponsor air tickets to
LAX and VC Korea will offer California
giveaways as other prizes.
• Event Period: June 10-30
• Event Title (tentative): Visit California for this Summer Vacation!
• Grand Prize: California Travel Voucher for one couple
Web & Mobile Advertising & Consumer Promotion Campaign with Marie Claire
To enhance visibility of California and reinforce
SNS and online marketing via popular media,
VC Korea will kick off a consumer promotion to
promote California travel through both online
and mobile campaigns with Marie Claire.
www.marieclairekorea.com
Web members: 135,000
Page View: 260,028
Unique Visitor: 21,467
Event Overview with Marie Claire
Event Period: June 11st to July 10th
Event Title (tentative): Visit California for this
Summer Vacation!
Grand Prize: two couples win a trip to
California
Entries will participate in the event through Marie Claire website or Facebook for the
chance to win.
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When VC Korea will offer the two winning couples, for an additional AD cost of $5,000,
Marie Claire has agreed to expand online exposure of CA travel to include an online
banner ad, mobile ad & mobile Apps, e-DM distribution, SNS channel exposure (online
community, blog, Facebook, and Twitter) including online content development for CA
travel awareness as a top of mind travel destination for online visitors and mobile app users.
C-2. Microsite – Consumer Online Event Development
In order to leverage the above co-op promotion with Marie Claire and Asiana Airlines, VC
Korea will conduct our own consumer event in the Microsite (CA Road) during the same
co-op promotion period.
Event Overview
Event title: Top Summer Vacation Destinations in California
Target: 10s~ 40s students and office workers who will spend their summer vacation
abroad
Period: June 11 ~ July 22
Event Outline
The event landing page will feature a list of California top summer vacation
destinations with descriptions and beautiful images. The viewer can select the one they
want to spend their vacation at this summer, and leave a comment about who they want
to be there with. They can also share this with their friends via SNS plug-in tools. The
winners will be drawn and presented prizes or giveaway from VC Korea.
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C-3. Newsletter & Web statistics
Microsite e-Newsletter: VC Korea distributed the May
e-newsletter, covering the topics below:
BH Lee's Hand Printing Ceremony in LA
Yongho Kim story on the California Road Microsite
Coming Soon, Allure Travel Book covering
California special pages/in-depth travel guide.
This summer, LA’s nightlife, featuring musical
offerings of Greek Theatre and the Hollywood
Bowl as the best concert venues, Santa Monica Pier,
and the Ford Amphitheatre with dance, film,
theater and family events.
Napa Valley breakfasts, introducing newly launched
restaurants and innovative cuisine and menu with
tasty information
May 2012 website statistics
Number of visits: 6,665
Number of unique visitors: 5,647
May 2012 microsite statistics
Number of visits: 3,620
Number of unique visitors: 2,955
# # #
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