South Korea programme FAQ

No. Explera never provides flights, international or domestic. You book and pay for your own flights to Incheon, Gimpo or Gimhae, and any domestic flight, including to Jeju. We provide hotel, transfers and activities on the ground once you land. We also do not provide cash fees, visas, K-ETA or travel insurance.

Hosted tiers start at 150,000 followers on your primary channel, whether that is Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or an equivalent blog audience. The number decides your tier, from Rising to Authority, and above five million we build the trip individually. Under 150k we still reply and consider a single activity or tour in Korea, without hotel or transfers.

Creators aged 18 or over with a primary channel they built themselves and a blog or website of their own. We verify reach, engagement quality, audience geography, niche fit and content quality before confirming anything. Bought followers, engagement pods or past sponsorships that were not disclosed end the conversation. You also need your own flights, insurance and any visa or K-ETA your passport requires.

Yes. Every applicant must own a blog or website as well as their primary social channel, and that includes Spotlight applicants. A social profile or link-in-bio page does not count. We check that the site is live and belongs to you. It carries your pre-trip announcement and your post-trip blog post with a do-follow link to the agreed Explera page.

Your tier's hotel nights, return airport transfer in a private licensed vehicle and the activities in your agreed itinerary are hosted. You pay for flights, travel insurance, any visa or K-ETA, and personal extras: shopping, extra drinks, spa add-ons, beauty products and any upgrade that was not agreed. Meals are included only where the itinerary says so.

From Rising tier upwards, yes: one night at a 3-star or equivalent hotel for Rising, rising to five nights at a 5-star or equivalent for Authority, with breakfast. Korean hotel classifications differ from other countries, which is why we say "or equivalent". Spotlight collaborations do not include a hotel, and Bespoke trips are built individually.

You disclose under the rules of your audience's markets. For a Korean audience, that means the Korea Fair Trade Commission's guidelines on endorsement and review advertising: a clear label such as #협찬 and a disclosure line at the top of the post, not buried among hashtags. The exact wording for your collaboration is written into your agreement.

Once you are approved and before you travel, you publish two announcements: a social post saying you are travelling to Korea with Explera, tagging @expleradmc, and a blog post on your own site announcing the trip and linking to the agreed Explera page. Both are disclosed, submitted in the portal with a URL and screenshot, and checked before you travel.

No. The collaboration is non-exclusive. You can work with other brands, hotels or tourism boards in Korea before, during and after your hosted trip, as long as each collaboration is disclosed to your audience in the way its own agreement requires.

No. We never script or pre-approve your editorial content, and you decide what you say about Korea and about us. We only check that the agreed tags, links and disclosure are in place, and we may ask for a factual correction, such as a wrong price or a safety detail at the DMZ.

At least three weeks before you travel. We answer within five business days, and scheduling needs at least a week after you sign the agreement. The form warns you if your dates are sooner. For cherry blossom in spring or autumn foliage, apply well ahead, because those weeks fill first and DMZ tours need passport details in advance.

Usually, on day tours, if it is agreed in advance and your companion is named in the itinerary. For a DMZ tour they must also be registered with the tour operator using their passport details and meet its eligibility rules. Your companion's flights, insurance and personal extras are paid by you or them.

Assume not, unless it is agreed in writing. Drone flying is heavily restricted in Seoul, especially across the north of the city and around government and military sites, and aerial filming can need separate approval. Rules also apply near airports, ports and the border area. Check the current rules with the Korean authorities before you bring a drone.

At palaces, handheld personal filming is normal, but commercial shoots and larger kit can need permission. Temples are places of worship, so keep quiet and ask before filming monks. Bukchon is residential, with restricted tourist hours. At the DMZ, tours are tightly controlled, photography is restricted at certain points and you must follow the guides' instructions.

Korea's weather and security conditions can change plans: heavy monsoon rain in summer, typhoons in late summer and early autumn, and DMZ tours cancelled at short notice. We rearrange activities within your agreed trip where we can. We do not cover flight changes or costs caused by disruption, which is one reason travel insurance is mandatory.

We use your application data to assess your application and, if approved, to run your trip. Passport details are collected only after approval, when needed, and stored encrypted. Korea's Personal Information Protection Act requires separate consent for transferring personal data across borders, so the application asks for that consent as its own checkbox. Your privacy rights are set out in the privacy notice.

Yes. Explera runs creator programmes in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, and you can apply to each. Trips that combine Korea with another of those countries are considered for Signature, Authority and Bespoke creators, and are arranged through the group site. Each application is still answered within five business days.

You submit each post in the creator portal with its live URL and screenshots showing the @expleradmc mention and your disclosure. We verify it against the agreement and ask for a fix if something is missing. Creators who deliver well, on time and honestly may be invited back, sometimes with a stronger offer for their next trip.