The Issues and Implications of Escorted Shopping Tours in a Tourist Destination Region: The Case Study of Korean Package Tourists in Australia

The present study discusses shopping tours of Korean package tourists in Australia. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the trends of escorted shopping tours of Korean package tourists in Australia and to analyse the causes and effects of the escorted shopping tours. For the research, indepth interviews and an observation method (a market survey) were employed. The empirical results reveal that the escorted shopping tours are caused by two main reasons: low (under priced) ground operation fee between Korean inbound tour operators in Australia and Korean outbound travel agents in Korea and intense competition between tourist shopping centres in Australia. Other effects are also identified: frequent shopping tours, over pricing of tourist goods, itinerary changes and exclusion of major attractions, high rate of shopping commissions, poor service quality for tourists and bad image of the destination.