By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Lotte Group's Vice Chairman Shin Dong-bin was elected Wednesday as the new chief of a committee tasked to attract more foreign tourists.
Shin, 55, was picked at a board meeting of the committee for the Visit Korea 2010-2012 campaign, succeeding former Kumho Asiana Group CEO Park Sam-gu. The committee is a unit of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
``As Lotte Group has a close association with the tourism industry, we believe Shin is the right person to lead the campaign to attract 10 million foreign tourists to Korea over the next three years,'' an official with the committee said.
Shin formerly served as vice president of the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea-Japan Economic Association.
Heads of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports, the Korea Tourism Association, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Incheon International Airport Corporation and the KTO, among others, constitute the board of the committee consisting of 31 experts from the private and public sectors.
The campaign, first announced last year, is currently promoted by goodwill ambassadors Kim Yu-na, 2009 world champion in ladies figure skating, and actor Bae Yong-joon.
The committee will hold a launching ceremony for the campaign on Nov. 11.
It is the third time for Korea to initiate such a campaign. The last was held in 2001-2002 when Korea co-hosted the World Cup finals.