kabarsula South Korea’s time to shine as Bunnik ramps up In-Style Tours bandar SLOT INDONESIA

I have just plunged into the sea – the only person in the water – and returned to the pristinely clean beach, the sun on my back, as just a handful of tourists takes photos nearby.

There are surfboards for hire at the Surfy Surfy shop, cute coffee shops, and a shrine on the headland, but no-one yet enjoying them. It is 10am.

The beach is just a brisk one-hour walk on an elevated cliff-top path from the edge of a city of 3.3 million people. That or a 20-minute tram ride – my return mode of transport – where I shall return to my 5-star hotel to pack for the trip home.

In the haze, just 47km across the water beyond the fishing the boats is another hot destination, Japan. And just as I enjoyed those warm rays on my back, now may be the right moment for Korea’s time in the sun.

I am on Bunnik Tours’ inaugural South Korea and Jeju Island In-Style Tour and Dennis Bunnik is along for the ride, making sure the packed itinerary meets expectations. Is there too much, or not enough? Should one itinerary item be cut, and another extended?

These are tweaks and changes that will be made over the coming days with welcome feedback from our group of 16, led by the inimitable Monica Lee, our tour guide who cut loose the night before, our final evening, with a karaoke performance and dance – accompanied by Dennis Bunnik – down the aisle of our led-lit “limousine” coach.

And just as Australians are warming to South Korea, small group tours are also hot right now with Bunnik joking that he wants to make sure that us “guinea pigs” are at least “mildly satisfied” with their feature-packed agenda.

It’s a point of difference that is Adelaide-based family-run operation has maintained since Bunnik’s mother Marion started tours more than 30 years ago, occasionally accompanied by husband, Frank.

It is not uncommon for the matriarch to still accompany a tour, as several of our current well-travelled Bunnik Tours fans reveal. Dennis and brother Sacha now test most inaugural tours and the next generation of Bunniks are also on the rise. For now though, the sophisticated yet historic city of Seoul, rustic Jeju Island and buzzy beachside Busan are all on our list. While most of In-Style is five dining, five-star hotels and temple visits, there are more sombre moments in what are deeper dives than Bunnik Tours Discover Korea offerings.

Shared values

In a quiet moment for all, Lee becomes emotional at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan as she recalls the 16 countries who fought with South Korea, and the six countries which provided medical support in a conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, including 340 Australians. Among them was Private James Patrick Daunt, of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment who was not only the youngest Australian, but the youngest allied soldier to die in the conflict.

Through tears standing by his gravestone, Lee says that if it wasn’t for soldiers like Daunt, South Korea would not be the dynamic and prosperous country that it is today.

“It’s the ones like Monica that are really passionate about their country, about their job, their guiding, and that comes through,” Bunnik says.

But finding and keeping guides like Lee on this elevated offering is a fine balance. Bunnik Tours must compete with high-volume, high-tipping Americans. Then there are making viable alternative tour plans and tweaks to the itinerary based on feedback without upsetting the rhythym of the tour.

“She needs to know that we’ve got her back,” Bunnik says of Lee and the changes they will need to make. “We need to be in lockstep.”

When we put our name to a new tour, we’ve got to make sure that it works

Those amendments will later be relayed to DMC leader Jay in what is a full itinerary on our 9-day, 10-night tour.

“We know the customer really well,” Bunnik says. “Jay knows the operational and what’s possible here in Korea, and Monica and the on-road team then know the practicalities of it.

“When we put our name to a new tour, we’ve got to make sure that it works,” he says.

“You can only be as successful [as] a company if you’ve got a really strong connection between what happens in head office and what happens on the road.”

Room for growth

We are well into our tour and as Bunnik says, we met as strangers but all have something in common, despite an age gap of 30 years between youngest and oldest.

“We only sell in Australia, so the tours are specifically designed for Australian travellers,” he says. “What that creates is that real camaraderie on a tour.”

And all have happily paid a premium to be on this tour, even the singles who have paid a supplement.

“There’s a market for everyone,” he says “travelling in large groups with multiple coaches, etc, and at the cheapest price. That’s fine. But that’s not us.”

With Bunnik now free of his CATO responsibilities, as chair for a decade and on the board for 15 years, it’s time to focus back on the family business and that means accompanying more tours.

“I’m loving being back in the business full time, being able to be on the road more,” he says on our last day in the Korean Air departure lounge at Seoul International.

But Bunnik’s presence doesn’t mean profit over people, even for the premium In-Style tours.

“Get the customer experience right, profit and sales and everything else follows. But you can’t lead with profit,” he says.

When asked what’s next for the small group In-Style tours with the ever-growing Bunnik brand, he remains silent but there is a twinkle in his eye.

Much like South Korea and Jeju Island In-Style Tour, it leaves you wanting more.

Travel Weekly travelled as a guest of Bunnik Tours and Korea Tourism Organization.