By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Just as Koreans had long waited for the day when they could travel to the U.S. visa-free, so the Californian tourism commission has anxiously looked forward to it as well.
With the ambitious goal to at least triple the number of Korean tourists to California within the next few years, the Californian Tourism Commission celebrated its grand opening of its Korean office on the day that the Visa Wavier Program kicked off, Nov. 17.
During an opening ceremony at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, the ambassador praised the event, hoping California would become one of the most popular vacation destinations of Koreans in the future.
Susan Wilcox, vice president of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, said in support of the visa waiver program that her commission would project to triple the number of Korean tourists to California in the next three years.
Last year, of 806,175 Koreans visited America, while 331,000 people visited California. The number was the fourth largest group of tourists to California, following British, Japanese and German.
The Californian tourism commission is now the eighth American tourism commission now open in Korea. New York City, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the State of Texas, Hawaii and Alaska have tourism promotion offices in Korea, and the visa waiver program is expected to encourage other cities and states to open tourism offices here, said Michael Merner, managing director of the commission overseeing Japan and Korea.
The commission has launched a new web site, www.visitcalifornia.co.kr, and visitors to the office in Seoul would have access to brochures and guide books.
It was expected that the tide of Korean tourists would surge with visa-free entry to the United States, and the Korean airline industry reacted quickly.
Korean Air and Asiana increased flights to the United States. However, David Ruch, CEO of United Airways Korea, said with the global financial crisis, he would have to wait and see if the number will actually pick up.
The west coastal state in America has a variety of attractions. Big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are on the want-to-visit list. It is also home for iconic places such as Hollywood and Disneyland.
The economy is the largest among 50 states and has a celebrity governor in Arnold Schwarzenegger. The state capital is Sacramento, yet the biggest city is Los Angeles. It is home to many immigrants, many of whom are Korean.
Merner said the state has so much to explore beyond Los Angeles and San Francisco, the two most well-known tourism destinations in California.
He recommended Yosemite National Park, Napa Valley and San Diego as must-see spots.
The Yosemite National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, renowned for granite cliffs, waterfalls, Giant Sequoia groves and other sites. Napa Valley, located just outside of San Francisco, is an emerging name for its wine industry. And San Diego is a Southern Californian city sitting on the ocean.