Hanatour is bringing in a seasoned finance and strategy executive as its new chief, aiming to accelerate accountability-driven management and long-term growth. The company plans to pursue profitability and expansion simultaneously, anchoring its strategy on three pillars: premium travel, inbound tourism and AI.
Hanatour announced Tuesday that it has designated Jo Jwa-jin, former CEO of Lotte Card, as its new chief executive. Jo is set to be officially appointed at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Aug. 18. Alongside this, the company said it will introduce an executive officer system to strengthen the board's strategic decision-making and oversight functions and clarify management responsibilities and authority.
Jo graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in economics and has spent roughly 35 years in strategy, marketing and management. He previously worked at A.T. Kearney and Monitor Group before heading the Seoul office of Oliver Wyman, and later served as head of strategy and finance and head of marketing at Hyundai Card, Hyundai Capital and Hyundai Commercial.
He subsequently served as CEO of Hyundai Capital America and then of Lotte Card. At Lotte Card, he restructured the asset portfolio and cost base to shore up the company's earnings foundation and drove a data-based digital strategy called "Digi-LOCA." At Hyundai Card, he executed a premium customer strategy through the launch of "Hyundai Card Black" and related marketing initiatives. He also built a track record in global business expansion through his experience running overseas subsidiaries.
The appointment is intended to help the company respond to the post-COVID-19 travel industry landscape and advance its medium- to long-term growth blueprint, "Hanatour Chapter 2." The company plans to make premium travel, inbound tourism and AI-driven innovation its three core growth engines going forward.
On the premium front, Hanatour will move away from price-driven competition, deepen personalized customer experiences and expand its service scope to cover the full pre- and post-trip journey. In inbound tourism, it will grow its lineup of Korea-visit products targeting Japanese and Southeast Asian travelers, capitalizing on demand for K-culture. On the AI front, the company plans to upgrade data-driven systems for customer consultation, product planning and marketing to improve operational efficiency.
"Jo is a professional manager who has led innovation and growth across diverse industries, backed by strategic thinking and strong execution," a Hanatour official said. "In a rapidly reshaping travel industry, we judged him the right person to build a new growth foundation for Hanatour." The official described "Hanatour Chapter 2" not as a repudiation of the existing business, but as "a growth project that reconnects and develops the competitiveness Hanatour has built over more than 30 years — centered on customers — to raise our future competitiveness to the next level."
terry@heraldcorp.com
