Game changer

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sat, September 30, 2023 | 08:36

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Game changer

"한국에 가고 싶다" 안달 난 그들

Posted : 2012-04-07 11:11

Updated : 2012-04-07 11:11

More than nine out of 10 French hallyu fans, who are interested in the Korean culture, want to travel Korea, a survey showed Tuesday.

A poll at tourism promotion Website(www.visitkorea.or.kr), conducted by the state-run Korea Tourism Organization's Paris branch, displayed that more than 90 percent of 3,775 respondents said they want to visit Korea. Of them, 75.8 percent said they will come to Korea without fail.

The result tells that hallyu has been promoting the Korean tourism industry directly or indirectly.

According to the poll, most respondents preferred hallyu theme tour packages, which include K-pop concerts and drama-related tourist attractions. In a selection of two or more purposes of visiting Korea, the general sightseeing tour was the largest with 96 percent, followed by the tour with K-pop concert by 80 percent and that with drama shooting site by 41.2 percent. The tour for study was the lowest 34.2 percent.

On the other hand, 169 respondents of the polled have already visited Korea were content with travelling. As many as 95 percent of them replied they were satisfied with their tour to Korea.

Surprisingly, all respondents said they have enjoyed Korean pop music. Dramas came second hallyu content with 91.6 percent, followed by movies with 69.6 percent and Korean traditional culture with 50.5 percent.

The survey also confirmed that K-pop experience helped the French tourists get better image on Korea.

As many as 72 percent said that they got to know Korea after they listened to the K-pop, the highest, and 66.3 percent have got interested interest in Korean culture. Even more, 62.5 percent considered staying in Korea for a long time and 41.2 percent started to learn Korean language.

More than 90 percent of the respondents showed strong interest in most of general Korean culture. Among the attractive Korean content was Hangeul or Korean language with 91.5 percent, Korean food with 90.9 percent, traditional culture with 83 percent and dramas with 69.9 percent. The respondents were allowed to choose two or more in the category.

Meanwhile, Big Bang and 2NE1, idol singer groups of YG Entertainment, were most popular among the French respondents. Among boy groups, Big Bang won 50 percent of the polled, followed by Super Junior with 45 percent, Shinee with 35.5 percent, and Beast with 33.8 percent. 2PM was the lowest with 24.2 percent. 2NE1 was the most popular girl groups with 64.8 percent, followed by Girl’s Generation with 45.4 percent, miss A with 31.5 percent, f(x) with 29.4 percent and T-ara with 25.9 percent.

“The poll proves that hallyu fans are highly motivated to travel Korea,” said Park Jae-seok, Paris branch manager of the Korean tour promotion body. “We will make our efforts to increase the number of French fans of hallyu." An estimated 100,000 French people are fans of hallyu or Korean culture, according to the branch manager.

"한국에 가고 싶다" 안달 난 그들
프랑스 한류 팬 10명 중 9명 이상이 한국여행을 희망하는 것으로 나타났다. 3일 한국관광공사는 "파리지사가 최근 한국관광 해외 홍보 사이트(www.visitkorea.or.kr)를 통해 한류팬 3,775명을 대상으로 설문조사를 해본 결과 프랑스 한류 팬의 90% 이상이 한국을 방문할 의사가 있다고 답했다"고 밝혔다. 또 "한국여행을 반드시 할 것"이라는 응답자도 75.8%에 달해 K팝이 방한관광 수요를 증대시키는 데 직간접적으로 영향을 끼치고 있음이 확인됐다. 향후 한국을 방문할 목적(복수응답)으로는 일반관광(96%), K팝공연관람(80%), 드라마촬영관람(41.2%), 학업(34.2%) 순으로 답해 이들 팬들은 K팝 공연 등 한류와 연계된 여행상품을 선호하는 것으로 분석됐다. 한편 전체 응답자 중 한국여행을 해본 경험이 있는 팬은 169명이었으며 이 가운데 136명(81.1%)은 한국여행에 대해 '매우 만족한다'고 답했고 23명(13.6%)은 '만족'한 것으로 응답해 프랑스 한류 팬들의 한국여행 만족도 또한 높은 것으로 나타났다. 또 접해본 경험이 있는 한류 콘텐츠(복수응답)에 대해서는 조사 응답자 전원이 'K팝'을 직접 접해봤다고 답했으며 다음으로 '한국 드라마(91.6%)' '영화(69.6%)' '한국 전통문화(50.3%)' 순으로 응답했다. K팝을 경험한 후 한국에 대한 인식도 좋아진 것으로 나타났다. K팝을 들어본 후 '한국을 처음 알게 됐다'는 응답이 72.1%로 가장 높게 나타났으며 '한국 문화에 관심을 갖게 됐다(66.3%)' '장기간 한국 체류를 고려하게 됐다(62.5%)' '한국어를 배우기 시작했다(41.2%)' 순으로 응답했다. 전체 응답자의 90.7%가 한국문화 전반에 대해 관심을 갖고 있으며 관심 있는 한국 문화 콘텐츠(복수응답)로는 한글(91.5%), 한식(90.9%), 한국 전통문화(83.0%), 드라마(69.9%)의 순으로 응답, 한류 팬들은 한국문화 전반으로 관심 영역을 확대하고 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 한편 이들은 가장 좋아하는 K팝 남자그룹(복수응답)으로는 '빅뱅(49.9%)'을 꼽았으며 슈퍼주니어(45%), 샤이니(35.5%), 비스트(33.8%), 2PM(24.2%)이 뒤를 따랐다. 여자 그룹 가수(복수응답)의 경우에는 '2NE1(64.8%)', 소녀시대(45.4%), miss A (31.5%), 에프엑스(29.4%), 티아라(25.9%) 순으로 나타났다. 박재석 한국관광공사 파리지사장은 "이번 설문조사 결과 한류 팬들의 한국 여행 동기가 상당히 높은 것으로 확인됐다"며 "이들을 직접 관광 수요로 연결시키는 것은 물론 현재 10만명에 이르는 프랑스 한류 팬의 저변을 더욱 늘리기 위한 마케팅을 지속적으로 전개할 계획"이라고 밝혔다.

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