By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
A launching ceremony for the "2010- 2012 Visit Korea" campaign was held at the Shanghai Grand Stage, China, Wednesday, as part of a plan to attract 10 million foreign tourists to Korea annually by 2012.
The event took the form of a pop concert with more than 8,000 people in attendance. Titled "Feel Korea in Shanghai, K-POP Night," it was televised all over China. A fashion show featuring Korea's top designers was held on the sidelines. "The events are aimed at promoting Korea through cultural content in advance of the Visit Korea campaign," an official with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said.
KTO President Lee Charm, who serves as the co-chairman of the Visit Korea Committee, introduced festivals and special events that will take place during the campaign over the next three years, during a press conference at the Korean Cultural Service Center in Shanghai, Tuesday.
A total of 1.22 million Chinese visited Korea this year, making up the largest group of foreign tourists after Japanese (2.75 million). A record high of over 7 million foreign tourists have visited Korea this year.
As Chinese visitors are a major component of visitors to Korea, they are crucial for the success of the campaign. "Cross visits between the two countries have been consistently on the rise and the trend is expected to continue, particularly with the recently-publicized measures to increase Chinese tourists," said Sonia Hong, secretary-general of the committee.
During a meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak, Nov. 13, the government announced the pursuit of a visa waiver program with China for tourists staying up to 30 days.
The "Visit Korea" campaign is aimed at increasing the nation's tourism revenue to $10 billion and having Korea join the list of top-20 countries in surveys of tourism competitiveness.
Korea will promote major international events taking place here in the next three years, such as the 2011 Daegu World Championship in Athletics and the 2012 Yeosu Expo, as some of the compelling reasons to visit Korea.