Sports Events 365 launches Korean service, allowing tourists to buy tickets to sports events at hundreds of destinations

Sports Events 365, the international provider of tickets to sports and music events worldwide, has launched its service in South Korea. Sports Events 365 has started to operate a Korean-language website, and a full-service Korean-language reservations call center. The website and the call center allow Korean sports tourists, individuals, and groups to buy tickets online to some 60,000 sports events a year at hundreds of destinations, mostly in Europe and North America. Korean is the 19th language for Sports Events 365.

The offerings on Sports Events 365’s Korean site include tickets to matches of South Korea’s national football team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Sports Events 365 says that South Korea attracts international interest with the approach of the XXIII Winter Olympics, hosted in Pyeongchang on 9-25 February 2018.

The company adds that a significant share of the tickets to sports events purchased through the Korean site so far, are for matches of the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, current home of the Korean football star Son Heung-min.

Having a Korean player is not the only clue to deciphering the local trends. Among other favorite football clubs are found Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain (PSG), all top notch globally famous clubs with star players such as popular Brazilian striker Neymar, currently playing for PSG .

Based on the purchases on the website and customer service analysis the company informs that the preference for football events is strong enough to drive trips to Europe for the sole purpose of watching football. Sports Events 365 also notes that around 30% of the customers of the Korean website are women, reflecting the fact that South Korea ranks 10th in the world and first in Asia in terms of gender equality, according to the UN.

Sefi Donner, Sports Events 365 CEO, said: “Sports Events 365 brings to South Korea a unique combination of massive offering of events, full customer service and strong commitment to the local customers and market – all of this in their mother tongue. It was obvious to me that establishment of a Korean site was a high priority for the company. According to Statista.com, there are currently 30.5 million eCommerce users in South Korea, with an additional 1.33 million users expected to be shopping online by 2021. The Korean economy is strong and established, enabling the growth of tourism. Although most tourists go to neighboring Asian countries, there is a large segment of travelers who go to Europe and North America, which are in the focus of our activity. We have recently seen several South Korean travel agencies that promote football tours as part of their offering, and these types of agencies can be great long-term partners of Sports Events 365. All in all, South Korea represents a good business opportunity for us.”

Donner added: “Preparations for the launch included several surprises. For example, we were unaware that Koreans prefer the Naver search engine over Google, where we normally advertise. We had to adapt to the Korean consumer and to offer comprehensive customer service beyond the site itself.”

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