On its 25th anniversary, Imperial Tours, the award-winning luxury tour operator, expands its services to the under-served and increasingly prominent East Asian destination of South Korea.
Since 1999 Imperial Tours has played an instrumental role in presenting China to global travel and thought leaders. It has introduced this exotic destination to heads of state, iconic CEO’s and movie A-listers.
Rich memories abound from this historic period: driving Eunice Kennedy-Shriver into the heart of the Forbidden City, organizing Paul Allen’s access to a state of the art pebble-cooled nuclear reactor or closing down traffic on the city’s second ring road for an important group’s rush hour transit.
Rather than dwell on past achievements, Imperial Tours is delighted to set itself a new target by expanding to a hitherto under-explored corner of north-east Asia, namely South Korea, whose inbound tourism visitors continue to rise at 10% per year. We are not without resources in this endeavor. Though associated with luxury travel in China, Nancy Kim, Imperial Tours’ co-founder, hails from an industrious South Korean lineage.
A Kim of the Ulsan clan, her ancestors include Kim Inhu (1510-1560), one of Korea’s 18 sages, still venerated twice a year in Seoul’s Confucian Temple. Today, Nancy offers her own contribution of service.
Nancy celebrates her brother’s first birthday with her grandfather. 
“My father’s family maintain traditional values to this day. My grandfather (Kim Yeonsu) was one of Korea’s first industrialists and, as Chairman of the Korean Business Federation, guided the nation’s industrial re-birth after the war. I remember as a young girl that though he was affluent, he always lived in a traditional hanok (courtyard) home, wore traditional hanbok costume and limited himself to simple meals. Our greatest treat was the chance to sit with him after lunch (because children and women ate separately), enjoying the juiciest white peaches from his fruit orchard. He believed in our family motto: ‘Be humble to foster blessings, be generous to raise spirits, and refrain from wasting to build wealth’. I feel excited now by the opportunity to introduce the beauty and unique cultural heritage that Korea has to offer.”
Nancy’s ancestral clan Confucian shrine, a World Heritage site.
Geographically, travelers can expect the highs of stunning volcanic mountain ranges with the lows of white sand beaches. Culturally, Korea combines the dynamic buzz of some of the world’s most intense e-sports tournaments with the austere spirituality of the nation’s Son Buddhist temples. In the culinary arts, guests can savor the sweet juices of marinaded kalbi beef BBQ with the contrasting heat of a spicy pork or tofu stew. Guy Rubin, Nancy’s partner and co-founder comments, “This is a destination of sublime contrasts with one underlying promise – that whatever Koreans like Nancy put their mind to, they do intensely, wholeheartedly and well.”
Silverware designed by renowned Seoul family jeweler.
In launching South Korea, Imperial Tours holds true to its core values: treating guests like members of its own extended family and incorporating “wow” Imperial Moments based on insider access and a range of immersive experiences within a high-quality framework of the leading hotels, eateries, guides and experts working in the field. From its newly opened office in central Seoul, Nancy applies her 25 years of luxury travel know-how to her ambition of presenting her home country well.
