The program is a 3-year global campaign started in 2010 and will continue until 2012 to introduce the hospitality and attractions of Korea to tourists visiting the country.
Several initiatives are lined up during this campaign ranging from festivals and regional events to international events and discounts programs.
The benefits for a traveler coming during this campaign include: Free night’s stay; discounted promotions throughout the year for shopping, cultural activities, and transportation and entrance tickets to tourist locations; online promotions; one pass coupon and free transfers between airport to city hotels in Seoul on selective basis and free shuttle buses between Seoul-Busan.
Thousands of cherry tree blossoms flaunted their floral beauty at the 20th Jeju King Cherry Blossom Festival that ran from April 8 to 10 at the Jeju-si Public Welfare Town and its surrounding area.
The pink, flower-laden branches served as a natural backdrop for a wide range of opening events including a fusion of Korean music concert, a b-boy dance show, cherry blossom themed performances and a fantastic firework display. Activities throughout the entire festival period included a flower walking path, a participatory singing contest and a cultural performance area for teenagers. Visitors were also encouraged to check out the spring flower display and market, the showroom featuring artwork made of recycled tin cans, and the local specialty market.
The Jeju King Cherry Tree has been designated as Natural Monument No. 159 and is a protected natural asset that is a symbol of spring in Korea.
The Hi Seoul Festival 2011, sponsored by Seoul Metropolitan government and Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, took place on May 5 with the theme of “nonverbal performances beyond the barriers of race, language and generation.”
The festival featured ‘Nonverbal Open Contest,’ where local artists compete with one another in a band contest or a nonverbal performance contest, as well as ‘Participatory Performance Program,’ where people can join the parade along with performance teams from other countries like Spain and Australia. Many participated in both the programs, according to a KTO official in Dubai.
Excerpts of an interview:
Currently, a host of events targeting the trade and consumers are being held to promote Korea as a new leisure destination for GCC consumers. Medical tourism is a new marketing tool for the KTO in the region. Apart from the shows, we had recently organized a FAM trip for Saudi travel agents on Qatar Airways, travel documentaries, preparing a media campaign and several other activities. Exhibitions included Bride Show Abu Dhabi (February 2011); EMITT, Istanbul (February 2011); Bride Show Dubai (March 2011); GIBTM (March 2011); KITF (April 2011); ATM (May 2011) and Riyadh Travel Show (May 2011).
The tourism arrivals in Korea touched 8.87 million in 2010, up from 7.81 arrivals in 2009. Therefore, the objective of the 2-year Visit Korea campaign is to target 10 million arrivals by 2012.
The details of the exhibitions are mentioned earlier. The purpose of our participation is to enhance the brand image of the country as a leisure destination. The KTO continues to exert a lot of time and money into prospective markets and therefore it remains imperative for us to continue with these exhibitions.
Even though they are B2B or B2C, travel trade shows are one of the crucial marketing tools as participants spare their time and money in getting what they need. It has always been easier attending the trade shows as exhibitors get an opportunity to meet prospective buyers from across the world under one roof, communicate their objective and find out their needs.
Korea is one among the new, inspiring, safe travel destinations with state-of-art tourism infrastructure. Here, you can experience the charm of the old and new side by side and at the same time feels the warmth and the hospitality of Korean people.
To promote Korea as an emerging tourist destination with state-of-the-art infrastructure, friendly people, clean and safe destination for Arab clients; highlight the benefits of Visit Korea Campaign and special rates for apartment rentals; encourage agents to enroll for Korea Specialist online training program.
Striking images of Korea, females in traditional costumes, a team of tour operators, hoteliers, theme park representatives, traditional Korean cookies and government officials from provinces across Korea.
Korea with a fantastic tourism infrastructure, easy visa procedures for tourism purpose, a 24-hour helpline for foreign tourists, 2 of the top 10 theme parks, 24–hour shopping markets, ski resorts, resort island, exotic beaches, with a clean and safe environment is a fantastic destination for families. The country offers variety and highest level of services.
We have been attending the show continuously since the KTO opened its regional office in late 2003. Prior to 2003, the KTO did not have a continuous participation.
When the KTO opened its Middle East office in 2003, the agents and the consumers were apprehensive about choosing the destination for a holiday. Down the years, the destination has emerged as an excellent value for money with word-of-mouth marketing taking the lead followed by fans of Korean dramas and music that are eager to visit the country in the near future. The GCC arrivals in 2010 touched 8,600 plus compared to 5,300 plus in 2009. Therefore, we are optimistic that the numbers will jump even further as we have been running a lot of successful consumer and trade oriented campaigns to increase awareness. Our key focus of exhibiting at this trade show is to educate the travel trade by online training program and various other events.
