Korail expands website and app language support from 7 to 10, adding French, German and Mongolian

[Financial News] The Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) is significantly expanding foreign-language support for its ticket-booking system in response to the growing number of foreign tourists visiting Korea and the diversification of their countries of origin.
Korail announced on the 2nd that, starting on the 3rd, it will expand the languages supported on its multilingual website and KORAIL+ mobile app from 7 to 10. The three new languages are French, German and Mongolian. This brings the total to 10 languages for rail ticket bookings, adding to the existing options of English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai. Korail selected the languages after considering factors including the number of tourists visiting Korea from each country and the length of their stay, following discussions at the Korea Tourism Organization's “Tourism Transportation Public-Private Council.”
The foreign-language service is easy to access by selecting a language in the upper-right corner of the main screen on Korail's official multilingual website or in the KORAIL+ app. By September this year, a total of 7.78 million foreign passengers had purchased tickets for rail services, including KTX, up approximately 72% from the same period last year. If this trend continues, the number of foreign rail passengers is expected to exceed 10 million by year-end for the first time ever. Since last month, Korail has also made it more convenient for foreign tourists to plan trips, including by moving up the time when tickets can be booked from one month before departure to two months before.
Recent trends in inbound tourism have shifted rapidly from group tours arranged by large travel agencies to independent travel (FIT). As a result, tourism demand that had been concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area is increasingly spreading along high-speed rail networks such as KTX to major regional tourist cities, including Busan, Gyeongju, Jeonju and Gangneung. Reducing language barriers is expected to make it easier for foreign tourists to travel to regional areas and to have a positive impact on local economies.
Lee Min-sung, head of Korail's Passenger Business Division, said, “We have expanded the languages we support so that foreign visitors to Korea can enjoy train travel without language-related difficulties,” adding, “We will continue to provide attentive rail services by diversifying overseas payment methods and expanding globally tailored booking services.”
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter