Korea Tourism Organization Leads K-Education Travel Boom in Kazakhstan

100 Members of Kazakhstan Gifted School Group Visit Korea

The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 29th that a group of 100 students from Kazakhstan's 'Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools' (NIS) visited Korea for a campus tour and other activities.

Students of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) in Kazakhstan are participating in a K-pop dance class.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

Earlier, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization developed a campus tour product for visiting Korea, inspired by the fact that the pre-electronic travel authorization system (K-ETA) exempts those under 17 years old and that NIS students have a high preference for studying abroad. This visit by NIS was revived five months after the previous one in November last year.

Despite being a high-priced program costing up to 3 million KRW per person, 91 students along with accompanying teachers and parents, totaling 100 participants, took part. They toured campuses such as KAIST, UNIST, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Pusan National University and attended admission briefing sessions.

Afterwards, they visited major tourist attractions including Gyeongbokgung Palace, Lotte World, and Haeundae, as well as the Innovation Museum, a hub of Korea’s advanced technology, and Hyundai Motorstudio. They also participated in a Hongdae street tour and a K-pop dance class.

To broaden the spectrum of educational travel to Korea, the Korea Tourism Organization invited principals and college counseling teachers from 10 prestigious private schools attended by children of Kazakhstan’s affluent class, such as 'High Tech Academy' and 'Spectrum,' to coincide with the NIS group’s visit.

They toured not only campuses but also industrial facilities such as Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant and Samsung Smart Factory in Gumi, exploring what beneficial experiences students can have in Korea.

The principals and teachers who participated in the tour plan to actively promote educational travel products to Korea by jointly hosting an 'Educational Travel to Korea Briefing Session' with the organization in the future.

Jo Hee-jin, head of the International Marketing Office at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "Last year, the number of visitors from Kazakhstan to Korea was about 46,000, recovering approximately 88% compared to 2019. The organization plans to develop various educational travel products and attract more than 100,000 Kazakhstani tourists annually within the next five years."