With this year's Chuseok holiday shorter than last year's, South Korean retailers are preparing a range of hands-on programs in anticipation of stronger demand for outings within the city. Targeting families who plan to spend the holiday close to home rather than travel long distances, they are filling shopping spaces with performances and exhibitions to draw more visitors.
Lotte World Tower and Mall will project a "moon rabbit" media facade on the exterior of Lotte World Tower from the 24th through the 27th, the Chuseok holiday period, according to the retail industry on the 22nd. At Lotte World Aquarium, penguins and aquarists will greet visitors in hanbok during Chuseok. Lotte Premium Outlets in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, has set up the first offline pop-up store for the children's YouTube channel Mellow TV.
Shinsegae Department Store is expanding discounts on theme parks and experience facilities that families can enjoy together. At its Centum City store, it is running promotions on ice rink passes and admission to KidZania, a children's career-experience theme park. Daegu Shinsegae plans to offer discounts on a trampoline park and aquarium tickets. Hyundai Department Store's Pangyo branch is operating a free family-oriented program called "Mongle Mongle Autumn Playground," featuring a maze and other activities designed as a space where the whole family can play alongside shopping.
Starfield is also decorating all of its stores under a "Chuseok Culture Vacation" concept, presenting performances and hands-on programs with a holiday feel. Highlights include the "Baudeogi Pungmul Nori" folk music performance at its Suwon and Anseong stores, a "Joseon Parade" at the Goyang store and "The Magistrate's Birthday Feast," a fusion madanggeuk outdoor play.
Online, products aimed at the shorter holiday have emerged. Lotte On is selling theme park and water park tickets along with regional tourism packages in one place so families can enjoy them during the holiday, targeting demand for one- or two-day trips close to home.
Retailers expect the relatively short Chuseok holiday to shift consumer travel patterns. This year's Chuseok runs four days, from the 24th through the 27th, including the weekend. That is shorter than last year's holiday, which stretched a full seven days from Oct. 3 to Oct. 9. As a result, the industry expects more people to spend the holiday in easily accessible urban areas or nearby destinations rather than overseas or on long-distance trips.
The share of people planning to travel this Chuseok has indeed fallen from a year earlier. In a survey of 10,024 people conducted by the Korea Transport Institute from Aug. 12 to Aug. 18, 32.7% said they planned to travel this year, down 8.2 percentage points from 40.9% last year. Among those with travel plans, 89.9% chose domestic destinations. Total holiday travel is also projected to fall to 30.93 million people from 32.18 million last year.
"With the Chuseok holiday shorter than last year, we expect more customers to stay in the country and spend the holiday in the city instead of traveling abroad," a retail industry official said. "In line with that, retailers are strengthening leisure and cultural programs and discount promotions aimed at families."
