SEOUL, South Korea – November 5, 2026 – Visitors to Korea increasingly look beyond palaces, shopping districts and restaurants for ways to experience daily life. In the 2025 International Visitor Survey, food and dining ranked as the activity most often considered by prospective visitors to Korea, cited by 61.7 percent of respondents, ahead of shopping at 57.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.
One Seoul company is offering that experience in a family home. Travelko, an inbound travel company founded in June 2025, hosts cooking sessions in the home of a mother and daughter. Guests cook alongside the hosts and then eat together at the family table. The company’s founder, So Nayoung, who goes by Anna with guests, is a food educator. Her mother has decades of experience in Korean home cooking.
Travelko currently offers two programs:
Traditional Mandu-Making Experience: Guests make Korean dumplings (mandu) from scratch. Making mandu together is a holiday tradition in many Korean families, and guests fold the dumplings alongside their hosts.
Korean Vegan Home Cooking Experience: Guests prepare plant-based Korean dishes and eat them as a home-style meal with more than 10 side dishes (banchan). Hosts explain ssam, the practice of wrapping rice and other ingredients in leafy greens, and talk about everyday Korean meals.
https://www.airbnb.co.kr/x/travelko2
For visitors unfamiliar with Korean family traditions, the experience offers a small window into a culture built around preparing food together. An ordinary home kitchen becomes a meeting point between local residents and international travelers, with food providing a natural way to start conversations about Korean life and traditions.
That sense of connection has stayed with guests. Tina, a traveler from New Jersey, described her session as a rare opportunity to talk about food and culture while cooking together.
Travelko is developing additional food and cultural experiences for international visitors. For the company, the idea is simple: sometimes the most memorable way to experience a place is not to stand in front of its most famous landmark, but to sit at a local table and make something together.
About Travelko
Founded in June 2025, Travelko is a Seoul-based inbound travel company offering immersive experiences for international visitors to Korea. Through local food, hands-on cooking and cultural activities, Travelko introduces visitors to Korean food traditions, with a growing focus on plant-based cuisine and wellness.
Media ContactCompany Name: TravelkoContact Person: So NayoungEmail: Send EmailCountry: South KoreaWebsite: https://www.travelko.kr
