Gangwon Province: "Capture 400 Million Chinese Winter Tourists"

'Gangwon Special Exhibition' Held in Collaboration with Korea Tourism Organization in Hangzhou
Targeted Marketing with 5 Ski Resorts and Travel Platform Companies in the Province

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jin-tae) announced on the 21st that, in collaboration with the Shanghai branch of the Korea Tourism Organization, it will hold a tourism briefing session for the ‘2024 Winter Sports Tourism Festival (Festa) Gangwon Special Exhibition’ in Hangzhou, China on the 22nd. This briefing session is part of overseas market promotion and sales efforts aimed at expanding the attraction of Chinese tourists and revitalizing post-Gangwon 2024 winter tourism.

Chinese tourists visiting for winter ski tourism are having a great time at a ski resort in Gangwon Province.

As of the end of August this year, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea reached approximately 3.18 million, accounting for the highest proportion among all foreign tourists visiting Korea. In particular, China has emerged as a major market with a surge in the winter tourism experience population to 400 million following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Accordingly, Gangwon Province and the Korea Tourism Organization plan to visit five ski resorts in Gangwon Province (Mona Yongpyong, Welli Hilli Park, Elysian Gangchon, High1, Phoenix Pyeongchang) and major inbound travel agencies to conduct marketing for the sale of premium winter Korea travel products in China’s first-tier cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen) and the recently rapidly growing new first-tier city* Hangzhou. For reference, China classifies cities into first-tier, new first-tier, second-tier, third-tier, fourth-tier, and fifth-tier based on major criteria such as commercial resources, transportation, population, economy, and potential.

At this event, a business consultation meeting (B2B) involving travel agencies from both Korea and China and a winter tourism promotional briefing will be held to widely promote the charm of Gangwon tourism, including winter and Hallyu experience products and winter festivals linked to Gangwon’s representative winter tourism brand, Gangwon Snow Festa.

Additionally, in cooperation with the Korea Tourism Organization’s Shanghai branch and the global online travel platform (OTA) Trip.com (Ctrip), targeted marketing will be actively pursued to expand the attraction of Chinese individual tourists, who are shifting towards individualization and small groups, through the development of Gangwon winter tourism products and online promotional campaigns.

This promotion will include a special discount coupon event featuring shuttle bus products connecting Incheon Airport and ski resorts for individual tourists at seven ski resorts in Gangwon Province (Sono Vivaldi Park, Alpensia, Elysian Gangchon, Oak Valley, Welli Hilli Park, High1, Phoenix Pyeongchang), along with online promotional marketing of winter tourism content utilizing prominent Chinese influencers.

Meanwhile, with the winter season approaching, Gangwon Province plans to attract large group tourists, including four chartered winter flights from the Philippines to Yangyang Airport in December and corporate incentive tour groups from Taiwan, through the operation of specialized products utilizing the Olympic legacy.

Kim Jeong-yoon, Director of the Gangwon Province Tourism Policy Division, stated, “We will strive to continuously attract foreign tourists through discovering overseas specialized tourism products utilizing the Olympic legacy and aggressive marketing in cooperation with related organizations and the travel industry.”