By Lee Hyo-sik
Korea has been staging a full-fledged campaign to attract as many foreign tourists as possible to earn hard currency, create jobs and improve its international profile.
In 2009, Korea launched the“2010-2012 Visit Korea Year” campaign in a bid to attract 10 million foreign tourists annually by 2012, increase the nation’s tourism revenue to $10 billion and make it to the list of the top 20 countries in surveys of tourism competitiveness.
The number of foreign visitors exceeded the seven-million mark for the first time in history last year at 7.81 million, on the back of a weak Korean won.
Inbound foreign tourists are expected to exceed the government target of 8.5 million in 2010, with more Chinese and other Asian visitors on rising income levels as a result of strong economic rebounds back home, traveling to Asia’s fourth largest economy. Additionally, the popularity of Korean pop culture, or “Hallyu,” among Asian youths has helped to draw more visitors to Korea.
Since the campaign launch last year, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the Visit Korea Committee and other state-run tourism promotion agencies have held a series of publicity events to promote Korea as one of the world’s major tourist destinations.
KTO CEO Lee Charm said the nation should foster tourism as one of Korea’s new growth engines, adding it needs to boost tourism infrastructure and create attractive cultural content that would also improve the quality of life for Koreans.
Lee said the tourism industry is as important as the information technology and auto sectors, stressing that it is the key to Korea’s efforts to join the league of advanced economies. “Tourism creates more jobs than manufacturing because it is more labor-intensive. But this does not mean that it generates only low-quality jobs. Depending on how we add value to leisure and other hospitality-related services, tourism can produce high-quality and well-paying positions.”
Korea still heavily depends on the export-oriented manufacturing sector for growth, meaning it is easily affected by what happens outside the country. Many analysts have said the nation should expand the size of the domestic market by nurturing tourism and other service sectors to achieve a more stable economic growth.
Lee also said the country should raise the awareness of the Korean public about how important the tourism industry should be to them.
Many tourism experts have said the government should introduce a range of policies to make it easier for foreign tourists to come and enjoy their stay, while hospitality businesses should lower the costs of accommodation and build more foreigner-friendly leisure facilities to attract more foreign tourists.
In July, the government decided to loosen visa restrictions for Chinese visitors to attract higher numbers of wealthy consumers from the world’s fastest growing economy. More one-year multiple entry visas have been issued to the Chinese. Previously, the majority of Chinese visitors are required to apply for a visa each time they come to Korea, except for Jeju Island.
Under the eased visa rules, more Chinese are able to come here, as teachers, retired government workers and graduates of prestigious universities will also be able to receive a multiple entry visa.
In the past, a multiple entry visa was issued only to a small number of Chinese people, including politicians, professors, doctors, lawyers and those with permanent residency in an OECD member country.
Additionally, Chinese businessmen and tourists who transfer flights at Incheon International Airport and other airports in Korea are given a visa to enter the country in a bid to encourage transit passengers to spend money here.
The government plans to issue a one-time visa to family members of a visa holder without due process in a bid to encourage more Chinese people to vacation here with their family, ultimately boosting the domestic tourism industry and creating more jobs.
Many municipalities have also introduced an array of support measures and held promotional events to attract Chinese and other Asian tourists aiming to revitalize their regional economies.
Seoul city plans to expand accommodation availability as part of efforts to attract 5 million Chinese tourists per year by 2014. The municipal government will increase lodgings for foreign tourists by providing some 16,000 rooms by 2014 by enacting special legislation to promote construction of private accommodation facilities.
It will also promote “Innostel,” the city-sponsored renovation of low-to-medium priced accommodation, and cooperate with travel agencies to invite more tourists to stay there.
As sub-standard restaurants were included in the complaints from Chinese tourists, the city will designate 100 popular eateries as tourist restaurants to guarantee quality.
Tour programs covering major attractions with shopping facilities aim to attract some 100,000 shoppers from China. The city will also distribute a guide for Chinese tourists and foster 4,500 tour guides tailored to Chinese people.
This month, Seoul City will invite Chinese tourists to the annual Hi Seoul Festival.
Korea attracted nearly 60,000 Chinese visitors during the Chinese National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7, up 30 percent from the same period last year. The number of Chinese tourists to Korea is expected to soar 45 percent in 2010 from 1.21 million last year.