Over the past five years, the travel website Trazy (portmanteau Travel and Crazy) has emerged as one of the most popular online sites for free independent travelers going to South Korea. Interestingly, it not only features tours and activities in popular destinations Seoul, Busan and Jeju but also in at least 48 Korean cities and destinations. Recently, it expanded to Thailand by adding Bangkok and Pattaya.

Trazy’s Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder Kristine Hanuhl Um tells Workalife about the expansion of the company, traveling to South Korea, and an emerging destination worth your next visit:

Workalife: How did Trazy begin and where is it now?

Kristine: Trazy began back in 2012 as an online travel guide to provide the most up-to-date travel information about Korea. Now Trazy has become Korea’s No. 1 travel shop where you can discover and book the latest, newest, trendiest things to do such as tours and activities in Korea. We’ve also expanded the region to Thailand as well.

What inspired the decision to expand in Thailand, and what opportunities and challenges do you see ahead?

Trazy’s ultimate goal is to become Asia’s No. 1 travel shop and our expansion to neighboring Asian countries is definitely a prerequisite. Thailand is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, but we see there’s still a huge potential opportunity to innovate the online tourism in the country.

What are some of the misconceptions that travelers usually have on Korea?

I think that travelers may often think that Korea is difficult to travel because of the language barrier, and yes they could be right in some rural areas. But at least for Seoul, I believe it’s pretty convenient to travel around without the problem of language because most of the signs are available in English in public transportation.

Filipino travel to Korea continues to grow — what are some of your most popular trips for this demographic?

It really varies by each Filipino traveler’s personal taste or interest, but a lot of them are interested in K-drama shooting locations such as Nami Island.

From your portfolio, what are the emerging cities beyond Seoul, Busan, and Jeju are you observing? Which of these will be popular in 2017?

There are so many other beautiful cities in Korea that are yet to be discovered by international travelers. One of them is Tongyeong Port City. It’s considered ‘the Naples of Korea’.

READ: Gyeongju: Korea’s Forgotten Capital City