Korean Air Issues Guidebook for Seoul
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Korean Air does more than just carrying people to their destinations ― it also provides them with travel information about the places they are visiting.
The national flag carrier has now published an English-language guidebook on Seoul to promote Korea's tourism.
The publication is the second of its kind after the first one about Paris.
Foreign passengers in first and business classes on the airline's flights to Korea have been given the guidebook since last Saturday. Other passengers interested in the guide can download the service at Korean Air's travel information Web site, travel.koreanair.com/en.
The 24-page book introduces places where Korean traditions are still practiced such as palaces, Insa-dong and Samcheong-dong; cafes, bars and clubs where Seoul's up-to-date trends can be seen; shopping and restaurant districts including Dongdaemun, Itaewon and Cheongdam-dong; art and culture venues such as galleries, museums, theaters as well as performance schedules; and recommended tour routes, maps and emergency call numbers.
``We are publishing the guidebook as part of travel information services. We believe the guide will help the nation attract more foreign tourists,'' a Korean Air official said.
The book will be used especially for joint tourism marketing with Seoul. Korean Air and the city government signed a memorandum of understanding for tourism promotion last month. The two will give 100,000 copies of the guidebook to foreign tourists here.
With the Seoul edition as the beginning, the carrier and the city government will jointly advertise in countries from which a large number of people visit Korea. They will also invite journalists from those nations.
Korean Air issued its guidebook for Paris in March. The Paris guide included information on hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, museums, tourist attractions and a detailed map of the city.
The third of the series will be about Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the carrier will resume operations on June 2. It plans to publish guides for other cities as well.