Indian MICE Market Expands on K-Culture Boom... Incentive Travelers Surge 279%

Herbalife to Visit Seoul and Gangwon, Birla Opus to Visit Seoul and Gyeonggi
KTO: "Indian Incentive Travelers Expected to Exceed 10,000 This Year"

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has continued to attract large and medium-sized Indian incentive travel groups, resulting in approximately 2,000 Indian tourists planning to visit Korea next month. The total number of Indian incentive travelers attracted and supported by the KTO this year is expected to surpass 10,000.

A representative from the Korea Tourism Organization is conducting a business consultation with local travel industry officials at the Korea Tourism Promotion Pavilion of the 2026 India Outbound Travel Market (OTM). Korea Tourism Organization

According to the KTO on August 18, around 1,400 employees of Herbalife India, a global health and wellness company, will visit Seoul and Gangwon Province in three separate groups from September 6 to 11. Since 2024, the KTO’s New Delhi office has been in contact with Herbalife, organizing a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) seminar in Bengaluru and actively pursuing strategies to attract the group.

Herbalife initially considered Georgia as a strong candidate for the incentive trip destination, but after a preliminary visit to Korea in June, ultimately selected Korea as the final destination. Currently, over 90% of the participants have already booked their airline tickets.

In addition, 465 employees of Birla Opus, an Indian paint manufacturing and distribution company, will also travel to Seoul and Gyeonggi Province from September 1 to 7. The initial group size was approximately 300 but increased to 465 following the site inspection.

The KTO views Indian incentive travelers as part of a high-value tourism market and is accelerating its efforts to attract more groups. Incentive travelers tend to use five-star hotels and spend significantly more than ordinary tourists. According to the KTO, the average expenditure per foreign incentive traveler is $2,710, which is about 1.5 times higher than that of a general tourist, who spends $1,801.

Indian companies have traditionally favored Europe and Southeast Asia as major incentive travel destinations, but with the recent surge in popularity of K-culture, there has been an increase in cases where Korea is being considered. In May, 650 employees from Indian financial company HDFC also visited Korea.

The number of Indian incentive travelers directly attracted or supported by KTO through the third quarter of this year is expected to reach 4,075, an increase of 279% compared to the same period last year. With additional large and medium-sized groups already scheduled to visit Korea in the fourth quarter, the annual total is expected to exceed 10,000.

Hong Hyunseon, Executive Director of the Korea MICE Bureau at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "India is rapidly emerging as a key market for Korea’s inbound MICE sector. Next year, we will designate the New Delhi office as the dedicated hub for corporate meetings and incentive tourism, and we plan to expand attractions for large incentive groups through local MICE roadshows and other efforts."

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