Business Weekly / Senior Korean Grandpas' Tour Sparks a 'Taiwan Craze' Among Koreans

By Huang Yaqi

A group of Korean grandpas with an average age of 76 traveled around Taiwan, sparking a wave of enthusiasm among Koreans to visit the country. This was thanks to the Korean travel show "Grandpas Over Flowers," which documented the experiences of four elderly men backpacking — unexpectedly igniting a tourism boom to Taiwan.

"Grandpas Over Flowers" starred well-known senior Korean actors Lee Soon-jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun-hyung, and Baek Il-seob as the main cast, with acclaimed actor Lee Seo-jin serving as the team leader and "porter." The show followed their free-spirited travels across Europe and Taiwan. When aired in Korea, it achieved a peak viewership rating of 9.8%, the highest for its time slot. In November 2013, Eastern TV Drama Channel introduced the show, and it immediately became the top-rated Sunday night variety program.

The five episodes featuring their trip to Taiwan even triggered a surge in Korean visitors. According to statistics from Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau website, the number of Korean tourists visiting Taiwan from September 2013 to the present has increased by about 50% compared to the same period the previous year — the highest since the resumption of flights between Taiwan and Korea in 2004.

For Koreans, destinations like Hong Kong and Japan are far more familiar than Taiwan, with which they have had no diplomatic ties for years. So why choose Taiwan? "Grandpas Over Flowers" producer Na Young-seok stated outright at the beginning of the show: the flight is only two hours, suitable for the grandpas’ five-day, four-night itinerary; plus, Korea is mostly hilly and lacks landscapes as stunning as Taroko Gorge, and the food culture in both countries is also quite similar. In the show, when the grandpas went to a convenience store near their Taiwan homestay, they saw rows of kimchi and spicy sauces and remarked, "So convenient, feels like we never left Korea!"

Fresh theme: Travel through the eyes of grandpas

Na Young-seok is the producer behind "Two Days & One Night," a Korean travel show that once achieved over 40% in viewership ratings. In his semi-autobiographical book "Anyway, the Competition Goes On," he noted: “A good show must meet three conditions to be created: first, it must be new; second, it must be fun; and third, it must have meaning.”

Na Young-seok is no stranger to producing travel shows, but he noticed that such programs naturally assume the protagonists are young people. He asked himself: “Does being older mean you can’t take on new challenges?” Breaking conventional thinking, he decided to center the theme around “the world’s oldest backpacker group.”

“By approaching the subject through a different demographic — the grandpas — we also gain a new perspective. If grandpas in their 70s can travel independently, it creates a transferable feeling of ‘I can do it too,’” analyzed well-known Korean entertainment blogger Mushroom, who has long observed the Korean entertainment industry.

Genuine emotions: Fully portraying human conflicts

The human conflicts that arise during travel add a sense of “realness” to the reality show, which is another highlight of the program.

On their first day in Taiwan, three grandpas spent two hours looking for accommodation on Shida Road, a journey that should have taken just five minutes. These real moments were all captured on camera. To maintain authenticity, the production team didn’t intervene, earning Na Young-seok the nickname “Nation’s Mean PD (Production Director).”

Conflicts between the grandpa backpackers and the production team were also a constant. For example, to save costs, porter Lee Seo-jin would often stubbornly negotiate with the production crew, but the team’s response was: if the cast managed to secure extra funding one day, they’d have to make up for it with a longer schedule the next. The resulting interactions and conflicts were all presented truthfully.

Fast-paced editing: 1,000+ minutes condensed into 60

Additionally, "Grandpas Over Flowers" used cinematic techniques like drone aerial shots and panoramic views to present Taipei 101’s night scenery, Beitou Hot Springs, and Tarako Gorge in Hualien through the eyes and footsteps of the four grandpas, bringing these sights to Korean audiences. “Each episode feels like a mini documentary,” observed Zheng Ruiling, marketing and PR manager at Eastern TV Drama Channel.

With one camera following each grandpa and three cameras capturing group activities, around 1,400 minutes of footage were edited down to just 60 minutes of programming. The unique subject matter, genuine human moments, and fast-paced storytelling led to the show selling broadcasting rights to regions including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China after just three episodes. “The focus isn’t how pretty the trip is, but how they complete the journey,” emphasized Na Young-seok.

In the show, a grandpa who tried mango shaved ice in Yongkang Street exclaimed, “To eat such delicious mango shaved ice, you simply must visit Taiwan!” And upon seeing the breathtaking Tarako Gorge, another grandpa marveled, “So beautiful, so magnificent. I never thought that nearing 80, I’d still get to see something like this!” The travels of these septuagenarian grandpas across Taiwan may have had a more powerful promotional effect among Koreans than hiring any supermodel.

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