Ministry of Culture and Visit Korea Committee Open Foreign Tourist Welcome Week
120,000 Chinese National Day Tourists Expected to Visit Korea
Vice Minister Jang: "We Will Make Travel More Enjoyable with K-Content"
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 26th that, in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Year Committee, it will hold a 'Welcome Week' for foreign tourists during China's largest holiday, the National Day holiday (October 1-7).
The Welcome Week events will take place from the 26th of this month until November 11th at Gimpo International Airport, Jeju International Airport, Busan Port International Passenger Terminal and Busan International Cruise Terminal, as well as Seoul Gangnam Square.
First, at Jeju and Gimpo International Airports, welcome booths decorated with souvenirs from the National Museum of Korea called 'MU:DS' and award-winning works from the 2023 Korea Tourism Contest will be operated.
Foreign visitors to the booths will be provided with benefits for visiting Korea prepared jointly by tourism-related industries such as shopping, transportation, and convenience services, along with travel information about Korea including transportation, food, and shopping.
At Seoul Gangnam Square, a K-pop dance experience event will be held and souvenirs will be given as gifts. At Busan Port International Passenger Terminal, the National Busan Gugak Center will perform from October 13 to 29.
At the opening event of the Welcome Week held at Jeju International Airport on the day, Jang Mi-ran, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Lee Boo-jin, Chairperson of the Korea Tourism Year Committee, and actress Jin Seo-yeon, a resident of Jeju, warmly welcomed foreign tourists in person.
Vice Minister Jang then visited the 'Korea Tourism Year - Starbucks, Jeju Island Foreign Visitor Hospitality Event' held at Starbucks Jeju Handam Beach DT store, met with about 50 foreign visitors to Korea, shared conversations, and planted seedlings together symbolizing a flower language meaning 'Welcome to Korea and wish you a happy trip.'
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expects about 120,000 Chinese visitors to visit Korea during this Chinese National Day holiday period. This is a recovery to 85% of the level compared to the National Day holiday period in 2019 before COVID-19, representing a 150% increase compared to the previous year.
The Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization are developing joint products to attract individual tourists themed around university students, autumn, and regional tourism in cooperation with online travel agencies (OTA) such as Tongcheng, Airbnb, and Klook, and operating a dedicated pavilion for Korea travel products during the National Day period.
Jang Mi-ran, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "As the inbound tourism market is regaining vitality, we will continue to use distinctive K-content such as K-pop, food, and sports to enable both domestic and foreign tourists to enjoy their travels more."
She also emphasized, "We will continuously review the capacity and related systems of tourist destinations nationwide to resolve any inconveniences in tourism."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
