Overseas Travel Marketing Resumed... Card Industry Says "Not a Recovery to Pre-COVID Levels"

Confirmed Cases Still Not Decreasing
Trend Shifts to Contactless Consumption
Marketing at Pre-Corona Levels Uncertain

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Since the implementation of phased daily recovery (With Corona) starting this month, credit card companies are gradually resuming marketing related to overseas travel. This is a response to the increase in travel demand, but there is a cautious atmosphere about expanding marketing to pre-COVID-19 levels. This is because the number of confirmed cases is still not decreasing, and consumer trends have shifted to non-face-to-face after COVID-19.

According to the credit card industry on the 5th, all eight specialized credit card companies (Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, Hana, BC) are offering travel and airline-related benefits in line with With Corona. They are providing discounts on overseas airline tickets and hotels, which had been sluggish, and activating their own travel platforms. Some card companies have also prepared events that give cashback for overseas offline payments.

Although promotions targeting travel demand due to With Corona are in full swing, the industry explains that it has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. The number of confirmed cases is still not decreasing, making it difficult to see this as a full-scale resumption of offline marketing or an expansion of travel events.

A representative from Card Company A said, "With Corona has started, but since confirmed cases are also increasing, we are monitoring the situation," adding, "Travel-related payments are expected to increase, but the atmosphere is not to expand marketing in earnest as before COVID-19." It is expected that marketing related to the government's consumption coupon project will mainly take place.

It is uncertain whether credit card companies will expand related marketing in the future. Consumer trends have shifted online after COVID-19, and expanding marketing is a negative in terms of costs. It is also difficult to increase marketing indiscriminately as merchant fees are decreasing. So far, credit card companies have focused on online marketing as online consumption surged even during the COVID-19 situation. According to the online shopping trend announced by Statistics Korea, the online shopping transaction amount in the third quarter of this year approached 50 trillion won. It was 48.2261 trillion won, a 19.6% increase compared to the previous year, the largest scale since related statistics began in 2001.

A representative from Card Company B said, "As non-face-to-face consumption increased after COVID-19, we strengthened online marketing rather than offline," adding, "This trend continues, and since travel-related events are a burden in terms of costs, it is uncertain whether marketing will resume to pre-COVID-19 levels."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.