Amuse Travel CEO Seoyeon Oh (Photo = C video media)

  

Amuse Travel is a travel venture that provides a reasonable and convenient travel platform and content suitable for the socially disadvantaged, especially those with disabilities, which are not easy to travel freely. It was born in October 2016, a year ago. Amuse Travel led by Mr. Oh is called “Good Travel Agency” in the travel industry. Mr. Oh said, “It’s a little shy and burdensome.” With smiling about the fact that Amuse Travel is called “a social enterprise” or a “good company”. “It’s just a matter of doing something interesting and I like ,” he said.
Mr. Oh said, “It is an honor to look at us as a good trip or good business in perspective of providing the socially disadvantaged with travel contents,” but, “Looking at us in the frame of social enterprise is a bit of a burden”, said Mr. Oh.
“In our society, it is true that a social enterprise is a non-profit corporation that receives a lot of support and benefits from someone. But we started Amuse Travel because all of our members are interested in our current business model, and there is a clear market for social needs. We offer reasonably priced trips that make it easy for people with disabilities to make good trips at reasonable prices and services. It is different from a social enterprise in the general sense of being operated by a non-profit management. As there is clear customer’s demand, a clear market, and a reasonable price. “

Challenge to where others don’t

How did Mr. Oh start the amusement Travel that brought the business model of traveling with disabilities to the world? He said, “I have renewed my awareness of people with disabilities by the chance during my volunteer service. I was able to come up with a trip to the disabled by changing my perception of disabled people in our society.” Mr. Oh explained the situation more specifically. “There are people with physical disabilities who can not move their whole body and can not even reach the bathroom. In 2011, we spent the night sleeping with them to help people with disabilities live and move. At this time, I was told that my friend who was doing volunteer activities with me at that time, said, “If I can go on a trip with these people, I can feel something about my life and I can relieve the stress.”

 

Mr. Oh said that after hearing this, he thought about the trip to the disabled. “I thought that the trip would make life easier for people with disabilities,” he said. Through such market research, Mr. Oh realized that there are many practical difficulties for people with disabilities in actual travel. Since that time, he has come up with a business plan. “The desire of people with disabilities and families with disabilities to travel is strong, but there is no market for goods and services,” he said, and “So I thought about implementing a business that allows people with disabilities to travel happily.”.

  

Through such market research and specific business plans and projects, Amuse Travel specialized for disabled people appeared to the world in Oct. 2016. In fact, it is not as easy to say that people with disabilities travel to unfamiliar places. How is amusement travel unraveling such a difficult journey for the disabled? Mr. Oh said, “The host system is playing a big role.” The host system is one of the shared economic models. He said the hosts, who act as assistants and guide in the field of travel, are both host. Mr. Oh explained the host system created by Amuse Travel more. “You can think of hosts as tour operators. For example, Amusement Travel builds partner relationship and infrastructure for the disabled such as hotels and rental cars, car drivers and guides that are most suitable for people with disabilities. Based on the infrastructure we have built, we will plan and make the trip specifically. It is the structure that the host manages for the disabled in the field that we designed the disabled travel product. “

  

Not all people with disabilities are, but many people with disabilities in our society are called social underprivileged. It is a reality that a considerable number of people with disabilities are not economically comfortable compared with people without disabilities. This, the socially weak, is the major customer of Amuse Travel. Only by raising sales and earning profits can keep companies running. Amuse Travel, with the main customer consist of socially weak the disabled, can make a profit? “If you can afford a trip for people with disabilities that are comparable to those of non-disabled people at reasonable prices without taking any unreasonable profits or irrational measures, you can secure customers through this,” he said. “In this respect, though not many, you can make a profit.” He said.

  

Mr. Oh noted that the desire for travel by disabled people and their families is great. “The number of customers is also not negligible,” he said. “There are about 2.5 million people with disabilities in Korea. Even if only 1% of them, 25,000, are not huge, but the market can be formed,” he said. Mr. Oh said, “When you choose something that you are interested in and can do well in the area that others do not have, you can have a unique value and competitiveness.” In that point, this for the disabled is a rational choice that the start-up Amuse Travel could do .

Big satisfaction and interest grows with will
It has been a year since Travel showed up in the world. The members of Amusement Travel, which started with the first three, including Mr. Oh, have now increased to seven. As well as growing the market’s attention with good start-ups, they are also making outward growth. The amount of the transaction, which was slightly less than $90,000 last year, is already $215,000 by September this year. At the end of the year, it is expected to achieve $360,000 based on Gross Merchandise Value.

  

Mr. Oh founded Amuse Travel at the age of 36. In fact, starting a company in one’s mid-30s has inevitably more fears and worries than their 20s. Oh said, “Of course, it’s true that I was so afraid of doing this,” he said. “I still wanted to do something. He said he’s satisfied with what he’s doing right now. As satisfaction grows, so does the interest and willingness to work.

  

At the end of the interview, Mr. Oh said, “Travel is a way for people to know about others with disabilities, and conversely, this travel is the key to open the door of their hearts to those who are not the disabled.” Venture company Amuse Travel is making exciting and happier trips for everyone today as well.

[Weekly Gonggam]

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