The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 26th that, together with the Korea Tourism Organization, it will increase the number of Korean tourism promotion offices to 12 this year and actively expand inbound marketing to target emerging potential markets.
Korean tourism promotion offices are Korean tourism promotion bases established in regions where the Korea Tourism Organization does not have overseas branches. The Korea Tourism Organization has a total of 30 overseas branches, with 20 of them concentrated in the Asian region.
To supplement this, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been establishing Korean tourism promotion offices in major hubs in the Americas and the Middle East since last year, aiming to diversify the inbound market and pioneer new markets.
The scene of the Korea tourism briefing held locally in Sweden, following the establishment of a new Korean tourism promotion office last year. [Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
Although there are no overseas branches of the Korea Tourism Organization, Korean tourism promotion offices were established in Italy (Milan), Sweden (Stockholm), Poland (Warsaw), Brazil (Sao Paulo), the United States (Chicago), Canada (Vancouver), New Zealand (Auckland), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Qatar (Doha), and Uzbekistan (Tashkent), considering the interest in Hallyu, flight routes, and the population base. As a result, the number of tourists visiting Korea from the 10 countries where promotion offices operated reached 1.86 million last year, an increase of 22.6% compared to the previous year. Compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, it showed a recovery rate of 123.3%, demonstrating a faster growth rate than the overall inbound market recovery rate of 93.5%.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that, along with promotion office marketing, it has continued segmented marketing by dividing the inbound market into mature (Greater China and Japan), growing (Southeast Asia and the Middle East), and emerging (Americas) markets. As a result, the proportion of long-distance tourists visiting Korea increased from 17% in 2019 to 21.2% in 2024. Additionally, the number of countries with more than 50,000 inbound tourists increased from 21 in 2019 to 24 in 2024, showing a trend of diversification in the overall inbound market.
With the confirmed success of the promotion offices, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to establish new Korean tourism promotion offices in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) and T?rkiye this year to accelerate the development of new markets. Benelux, centered on the Netherlands, has a solid demand for overseas travel, and T?rkiye is a tourism and transportation hub with high interest in Korean culture and home to Istanbul New Airport, the world's largest hub airport, making it a region expected to see rapid growth in inbound tourists in the future.
Kim Jeong-hoon, Director of Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "To ensure stable and sustainable growth of the inbound market, it is essential to diversify the market by targeting emerging markets with high potential." He added, "We plan to strategically and steadily expand promotion offices by reviewing operational performance in the future."
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