KTO road show to attract Chinese business travelers

By Lee Hyo-sik

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will hold a road show in Shanghai today, inviting hundreds of corporate executives, tourism officials and journalists, to promote Korea as an attractive location for commercial meetings and corporate tour programs.

The state-run tourism promoter said its CEO Lee Charm and other KTO officials will make every effort to publicize the nation’s convention and tourism infrastructures, encouraging Chinese firms to organize corporate meetings and employee tour programs here.

“We have been making efforts over the years to promote Korea as one of Asia’s top meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) destinations. The road show in Shanghai will provide a boost to such efforts, attracting more Chinese firms to hold conferences and organize employee tours to Korea,” a KTO spokesman said.

KTO held a road show in Guangzhou in December last year and was able to persuade several companies to send a total of 4,000 employees to Korea on a corporate-sponsored tour scheme.

For instance, Infinitus China sent 2,000 employees to Korea as part of an employee incentive program between July 3 and 9, visiting a number of tourist spots in Seoul and Jeju Island.

A larger group of Chinese employees is expected in mid-September, KTO said. Pro-Health Product, a health-care and first aid goods manufacturer based in Guangzhou, will send eight tourist groups of its top-performing sales agents between Sept. 16 and 28. Each group will consist of 1,600 employees, totaling 12,800.

They will stay in Korea for six days, taking part in a company workshop and a tour agenda that includes Seoul and Jeju Island.

“It will be the largest corporate incentive tourist group Korea has ever attracted from a foreign country. It will encourage more companies in Asia to hold conferences and organize employee tours to Korea, helping to draw more visitors to the nation,” the spokesman said.

He said Korea will take a range of steps to strengthen the competitiveness of its MICE industry to attract as many tour groups on corporate sponsorship as possible, becoming Asia’s top destination for commercial meetings and corporate tours by 2015.

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr