South Korea has recently kick started a broad Tourism South Korea campaign whose objective is to market the country internationally and promote the various aspects of culture. Korea Tourism Organization sets out its ‘Unlock Korea with a Word’ campaign where tourists are invited to a Korean odyssey from the start. Spearheaded from September 16, to November 3, 2024, tourists are encouraged to say ‘Annyeonghaseyo’ that is Korean for ‘hello’ as this unlocks Korea.
This particular campaign is so well timed as Korea especially during the autumn season, all the trees change color to red, orange, yellow and many more. Tourists are advised to freely move within Korea’s national parks, historic sites and colorful cities at this period of the year. In this regard, the KTO also works with most of the key airlines and tour operators that provide various promotion and cut in priced travel packages that wouldensure that the international tourists have the best experiences while in Korea.
Besides the language learning campaign, South Korea is exploiting the tag ‘Foodie’s Paradise’. The research conducted among about a thousand people from Southeast Asia by the Agoda digital travel platform showed that South Korea is ahead of other countries in terms of culinary tourism since 64.7% of respondents mentioned the food as the primary motive for traveling to this country. There has been constant interest from food lovers visiting the country’s numerous food markets, local street foods, cafes as well as restaurants.
Furthermore to increase the attraction of the place Seoul – the capital city will organize various cultural events and festivals. Seoul Metropolitan Government has set the Seoul Lifestyle Tour from Sept 25 to Nov 10 where seven Special Tourist Zones will be featured in themed tours conducted by creators, trend setters, and entertainers. This initiative had the goal of giving visitors as close to the real experience of Seoul’s history, art and food culture as possible.
Another event putting Seoul on the map in autumn is the Seoul Hanok Week 2024 that will showcase Hanok architecture from September 27 to October 6 within the districts of Bukcheon and Seochon. This event provides the visitors an idea of the Korean architectural style and culture by virtue of the village tour and tea making ceremony and outdoor music concerts. The city is also getting ready for the Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival slated for October as light up the Yeouido Hangang Park with fireworks and other light shows.
However, to expand the resource base of tourism, South Korea has relied on the K-pop and Korean entertainment industry as well. The next K-Link Festival is planned for October, 5th, 2024 at Inspire Entertainment Resort in Incheon: leading K-pop performers will perform, guests will be able to get acquainted with the most interesting aspects of Korean culture. This event fits well into the general approach used in the country to utilize its diplomacy, arts, popular culture, etc., to promote tourism.
As the tourism industry of South Korea is gradually bouncing back to success, measures are being put in place to address perceived problems with regard to some forms of tourism. In the more recent past the government has started a campaign of reducing cheap package tours where attractions are controlled by compulsory shopping. This shift is meant to enhance the quality of tourism products and guarantee the tourists have enough points of contacts with the Korean heritage.
Now that South Korea strives to become one of the leading tourist destinations, it gradually shifts the focus from mere attraction sightseeing. Basically, it ranges from tasting exotic food and participating in colorful cultural celebrations, church tours, K-pop Buzz, and learning a new language among others hence using the word tourist district diversification. Having these programs set in place, South Korea is in a vantage point to host the next wave of tourists interested in experiencing the distinctive Korea of the past and the present.
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