KTO Spends 14.1 Billion Won on Overseas OTAs... Unclear Results in Attracting Foreign Tourists

by Kim Heeyun

Published 15 Sep.2026 07:51(KST)

401 Overseas OTA Projects Carried Out Over Five Years
Accounting for 66% of Total Korea Tourism Organization Spending
77 Billion Won Invested in Top 4 Platforms Including Klook
No Unified Metrics to Measure Project Effectiveness
Korea Tourism Organization: "Focus on Impact in Attracting Inbound Tourists"

The Korea Tourism Organization has invested approximately 14.1 billion won in overseas online travel agency (OTA) partnership projects over the past five years, yet there is no unified metric to assess the actual effectiveness of attracting foreign visitors in relation to the budget. This is because the organization has recognized a variety of performance indicators, including not only product purchases and the number of actual users, but also content views and page traffic, each of which measures different outcomes. As the budget for overseas OTAs continues to increase rapidly, there are growing calls for a system to verify whether these investments are translating into tangible growth in inbound travelers, longer stays, and increased spending.

A traveler searching for travel products on a smartphone at the airport. The Korea Tourism Organization has spent over 14.1 billion KRW on overseas online travel agency projects from 2021 to this year.

According to an analysis by The Asia Business Daily of materials submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization to the National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee (specifically, by Assemblyman Cho Gye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea), there were 401 overseas OTA projects (80.0%) out of a total of 501 OTA-related projects from 2021 to this year. Out of the total execution amount of 21.36042 billion won, 14.17341 billion won, or 66.4%, was allocated to overseas OTA projects.

The amount executed grew significantly from approximately 1 billion won in 2021 to 4.23911 billion won last year — more than a fourfold increase. The budgets for ongoing projects this year were not included in the execution figures. By vendor, Klook received the most with approximately 2.96 billion won, followed by Trip.com and Ctrip at about 2.57 billion won, Expedia at roughly 1.14 billion won, and KKday at around 1.1 billion won. These top four platforms alone accounted for roughly 7.76 billion won, making up 54.8% of all overseas OTA spending.

Although the budget has risen steeply, the criteria for judging performance have differed for each project. In the performance reports on OTA business agreements submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization to the National Assembly, performance indicators included not only product purchase counts and actual users, but also content views, page traffic, and even live broadcast viewer numbers.

For example, in the 2024 partnership with Chinese OTA Tongcheng, results were reported as 34,522 purchases of Korea travel packages by university students and 79.82 million promotion views. Last year’s Klook transport promotion cited roughly 330,000 page visits and 12,145 passengers using coupons as achievements. The 2023 Airbnb China partnership highlighted 20,503 Korea travel package promotions and 24.62 million content views, while in 2021, Peizhu's online travel business emphasized live broadcast viewer numbers.

Status of execution and performance indicators of Korea Tourism Organization's OTA-linked projects from 2021 to 2026. While the expenditure for overseas OTA-related projects amounted to 14.17341 billion KRW, accounting for 66.4% of the total, the performance metrics for each project were presented in different units, such as views, number of purchases, traffic, and number of users. Data provided by Korea Tourism Organization submitted to the National Assembly.

The core issue is that 'exposure indicators' such as views and traffic are mixed together with 'action indicators' like product purchases and actual usage. This makes it difficult to compare which projects are most effective in attracting actual foreign visitors, even when the same amount of budget is spent. In the materials submitted, there was no common metric to estimate final results such as the additional number of inbound travelers, the length of stay, or increases in tourism spending.

Overseas OTAs are essential marketing channels for attracting international visitors. According to the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, 82.6% of foreign visitors to Korea in 2023 used OTAs before their trip. This highlights that global OTAs have become the main gateways for the sale and promotion of Korea-bound travel products.

The Korea Tourism Organization also describes leveraging global OTAs as a practical strategy to enhance inbound visitor attraction. An official from the organization said, "Given the nature of overseas marketing, which requires maximizing inbound results within a limited budget, it is effective to utilize global OTAs that are highly accessible and frequently used by local consumers." The official added, "Rather than simply allocating budgets per platform, marketing strategies should be developed by comprehensively considering each channel's characteristics, reach, and their actual impact on generating Korea-bound tourists."

While experts agree on the need to utilize OTAs, they also point out that project evaluations should be focused on the actual creation of travel demand. Shin Hakseung, a professor at Hanyang University's Department of Tourism, stated, "Global OTAs are difficult to exclude given their strong international brand recognition, large customer base, and significant marketing impact — as well as the fact that they are widely used by inbound visitors to Korea. Indicators such as exposure and reservation counts indicate the degree of activity on each platform," he said. Shin emphasized, "Ultimately, what needs to be evaluated is whether payments through OTAs have led to a greater number of inbound travelers, longer stays, a higher proportion of overnight tourists, and increased tourism consumption."