'Revenge Travel' Continues This Year... 96.5% Say "Will Travel Abroad" in GS Shop Survey

"Will Travel Abroad" Responses Outnumber Those Who Traveled Last Year
Popular Destinations Include Europe, Japan, and Vietnam

Demand for overseas travel is expected to surge this year. The unprecedented infectious disease that struck the globe had suppressed travel demand, but with the transition to the COVID-19 endemic (regular epidemic), this has led to 'revenge consumption.'

GS Shop, a home shopping channel operated by GS Retail, announced on the 1st that 96.5% of respondents to a survey on 'home shopping travel products' among consultation reservation customers said they have plans to travel abroad this year.

Out of 199 total respondents, 96.5% (192 people) said they have plans to travel overseas, which is 18.6 percentage points higher than the 77.9% (155 people) who said they traveled abroad last year.

GS Shop's travel product broadcast scene. [Photo by GS Retail]

Regarding this, GS Shop forecasted that as the second year of the endemic (periodic infectious disease outbreak) begins, even those who could not travel abroad last year are joining the revenge consumption trend, leading to an even greater increase in overseas travel demand this year.

When asked about the timing of overseas travel, among the 192 respondents who said they have travel plans, 31.3% (60 people) chose March, and 22.9% (44 people) chose February. Those who answered April accounted for 20.3% (39 people). In contrast, fewer people considered traveling during the summer vacation season: June 10.9% (21 people), July 12% (23 people), and August 8.3% (16 people). GS Shop expects that this year’s travel demand will be dispersed, avoiding the traditional peak summer vacation season.

As for travel destinations, Europe was the most desired, with 23.4% (45 people) expressing interest. This was followed by Japan at 21.4% (41 people) and Vietnam at 14.1% (27 people). The planned overseas travel expenses were reported to be 9.3% higher than the previous year. Survey respondents said they spent an average of 1.62 million KRW per person last year and are budgeting an average of 1.77 million KRW per person this year. GS Shop diagnosed that the overall high inflation situation has also influenced travel budget planning.

Based on this survey, GS Shop expects travel demand to increase compared to last year. Accordingly, they plan to increase travel product broadcasts by 20% compared to the previous year and expand broadcast times from weekend evenings to various time slots such as weekday evenings and weekend mornings. At the same time, they plan to develop travel destination products featured in travel entertainment shows, increase products departing from non-capital regions for customers living outside the metropolitan area, and expand premium products that do not include shopping or options.

Jung Kwangseop, GS Shop’s travel product MD, explained, "The extent to which people travel can be somewhat predicted through travel bag sales. Looking at the fact that travel bag product sales at GS Shop increased by 40% from November last year to January this year compared to the same period last year, we expect significant travel demand in the first quarter."

Meanwhile, the survey conducted by GS Shop was carried out over three days from the 15th to the 17th of last month. It was conducted via text message targeting 5,000 customers who made consultation reservations after watching travel product broadcasts during December of last year.

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