Amid changing travel trends in South Korea, there's a noticeable shift from package tours to individual travel. Socar, a mobility platform, has announced its collaboration with Budget Car Rental, a member of the AVIS Budget Group.
Why it matters: As travel patterns change, collaborations such as this address the growing trend of self-directed travel by offering broader options beyond public transportation.
The Key Points:
- Socar's app now facilitates overseas car rental bookings, making available over 3,750 locations from 120 countries.
- Founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, Budget Car Rental is a significant unit of the Avis Budget Group with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
- Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) 2022 data recorded a 345% increase in international arrivals from 2021, reaching 9.75 million. Of note, 2.55 million movements were recorded in May 2022, a significant number since the beginning of the pandemic.
- A decline in the preference for packaged travel from 30% (2010) to 18% (2020) indicates an increasing trend toward individual travel.
The Big Picture: The collaboration between Socar and Budget Car Rental demonstrates an effort to streamline the overseas car rental process for travelers.
Socar's new dedicated booking page on its app aims to simplify this process.
As an added feature, users who make prepaid bookings through the Socar app will receive a 5% discount.
Socar's Jang Hyuk emphasized the role of collaboration in improving the mobility experience for overseas users, drawing on their expertise in managing vehicles in Korea.
This move by Socar, among others, sheds light on the evolving dynamics of international travel preferences.
