Kakao is running its ‘Kakao Travel Pack’ campaign for foreign visitors to Korea from 1 October to 30 November. The campaign is designed to help the rapidly growing number of foreign tourists, driven by the global success of K-Pop and the hosting of the APEC Summit, to travel more conveniently and enjoyably.

The Kakao Travel Pack (hereafter referred to as the ‘Travel Pack’) includes three highly useful Kakao services for travelling: KakaoTalk, KakaoMap and K-Ride. Kakao aims to minimise the inconveniences travellers might face in unfamiliar places and enhance their satisfaction with their trip to Korea through its services.

KakaoTalk is currently available in 16 languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese, while K-Ride supports four languages: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) and Japanese. Destination search and chat translation with taxi drivers are available in 100 languages.

Foreign tourists visiting Korea can easily access essential travel services through the Travel Pack. Using ‘KakaoMap’, they can instantly check the locations of subways and buses on the map, along with ranking information for the most popular nearby restaurants and places.

K.Ride (Kakao Mobility’s mobility platform app exclusively for foreigners) supports up to four service languages and enables destination searches and driver chats in 100 languages. This allows users to call and reserve Kakao T Blue, Venti, Black and Premium taxis domestically without facing any language, account or payment barriers. It currently provides local ride-hailing services in approximately 30 countries worldwide, including Korea, Guam, the US, Japan, Southeast Asia and Europe, and vehicle reservation services are available in select countries.

Through KakaoTalk, users can communicate with locals via open chats to obtain local travel information and authentic reviews. Free Voice/FaceTalk is available and users can also make reservations and enquiries at stores.

The Travel Pack campaign will be promoted directly to foreign visitors through outdoor advertising at popular tourist destinations and landmarks with high visitor numbers, such as Incheon Airport terminals, the Airport Railroad, Kakao T Taxi, Myeongdong, Cheonggyecheon, and Seoul Station. Promotion is also planned through global social media channels such as Instagram and TikTok.

Kakao’s campaign is planned to coincide with the expected surge in travel demand in the second half of this year. According to the Korea Tourism Data Lab of the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea from January to August this year reached approximately 15.6 million, which is a 15.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Demand is expected to grow further, particularly given the APEC Summit scheduled for late October and the government’s temporary visa exemption policy for Chinese group tourists (three or more people), which will be implemented from 29 September.

A Kakao representative stated: ‘We planned this campaign to establish Kakao services as essential apps for foreign visitors to Korea, and to contribute further to the revitalisation of domestic tourism and infrastructure development.’ They added: ‘To this end, we have improved language support for foreign users and enhanced connectivity between services. We will continue to explore ways in which Kakao services can contribute to the revitalisation of domestic tourism and the development of travel infrastructure.”