On April 27, Gyeongbuk Province and the Gyeongbuk Culture and Tourism Corporation (President Kim Namil) announced that, with visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists currently under consideration, they are proactively carrying out a variety of initiatives to attract tourists in preparation for a full recovery of the Chinese market.
In April alone, the corporation successfully carried out three collaborative projects?supporting an art travel coverage tour by Chinese SNS influencers, assisting with the Gyeongbuk itinerary for a mega fam tour, and hosting a MICE group fam tour from Guangzhou, China?thereby raising awareness of Gyeongbuk tourism and establishing a solid foundation for attracting actual tourists.
Gyeongbuk Culture and Tourism Corporation is welcoming Chinese group tourists and taking a commemorative photo.
First, on April 9-10, the corporation partnered with overseas organizations to support an art-themed trip to Gyeongju by a popular influencer on Xiaohongshu, a leading Chinese SNS platform, who has approximately 90,000 followers. Through this project, art content featuring guitar performances was produced against the backdrop of major Gyeongju tourist attractions such as Bulguksa Temple, Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, and Hwangridan-gil.
This trip, in particular, created content that fused Gyeongju's cultural heritage with its artistic charm, effectively capturing the city's unique and attractive atmosphere. The content is expected to widely promote the emotional appeal of Gyeongbuk tourism to Chinese consumers.
In addition, the corporation supported a large-scale mega fam tour linked to the APEC Summit, during which about 70 travel industry representatives from China and Hong Kong visited Gyeongju and Pohang on April 16 and 17. Following the fam tour, a "B2B Exchange Meeting for Chinese-speaking Travel Industry Representatives" was held in Busan on April 18. Companies from Gyeongbuk, including theme parks and performance businesses, participated in the event, where they engaged in business consultations with Chinese-speaking travel agencies and inbound travel industry professionals to develop travel products for Korea. The corporation actively cooperated to ensure that the Chinese-speaking travel industry could fully experience Gyeongbuk tourism content and potentially develop it into future tourism products.
On April 25, the corporation supported a MICE fam tour for executives of major travel agencies from South China, enabling them to directly inspect key MICE facilities and tourist attractions in Gyeongbuk. During a welcome dinner hosted by Gyeongbuk Province and the corporation, a tourism promotion session was held to introduce the appeal of Gyeongbuk tourism and establish practical networks with travel agency leaders. This effort laid the groundwork for attracting both corporate incentive groups and Chinese group tourists.
Lee Sanghoon, Head of the Marketing Business Division at the Gyeongbuk Culture and Tourism Corporation, stated, "This year's APEC Summit and the temporary visa waiver policy for Chinese group tourists will mark a significant turning point for the Gyeongbuk tourism industry. We will actively leverage these opportunities to develop Gyeongbuk tourism products tailored to the Chinese market and widely promote Gyeongbuk's unique attractions to revitalize regional tourism."
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