Mesmerizing tourists without using a word

A scene from the non-verbal show “Painters: Hero”

Foreign travel agents, journalists invited to B2B event for non-verbal shows

By Jung Min-ho

In the next few years, Korea may see another subcategory of “hallyu,” or the Korean Wave encompassing K-pop, K-drama and K-movies, as foreign tourists are increasingly fascinated by the country’s non-verbal shows.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the number of foreign visitors to stage shows, mostly non-verbal performances, soared to 2 million during the first nine months of the year, in comparison with 1.5 million for the whole year of 2015 and 1.9 million in 2014.

“Stage shows are a very important part of our Korean tour packages,” Ivan Leung, vice general manager of a Guangzhou-based travel agency, told The Korea Times during a Travel Mart event organized by the KTO, Tuesday. “Most customers are very satisfied with them, and I plan to add more shows to our itinerary when I go back to China.”

Foreign travel agents, journalists and bloggers talk with Korean stage show producers during a business- to-business event at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul, Tuesday.

Fifty-five foreign travel agents, journalists and popular bloggers were invited to the event as part of the KTO’s program to connect them with stage show producers in Korea. From Sunday to Wednesday, the invitees visited tourist attractions in Busan, Gyeongju and Seoul, including theaters for some popular non-verbal shows.

“This is the first time we held a business-to-business event only for stage show producers,” Joung Jin-su, director of the KTO’s strategic products team, said. “They are very competitive tourism content that can potentially draw a great number of foreign tourists and change the way they spend time here.”

About 16 percent of all foreign tourists to Korea this year have enjoyed non-verbal performances. The KTO’s goal is to boost the number to 20 percent in the next few years.

For many years, “Nanta,” also known as “Cookin’,” was the only non-verbal show the KTO promoted to other countries. “One reason was that it was a great show that deserved more promotion. Also, it was pretty much the only decent one Korea had at the time,” Joung said.

As the number of foreign tourists started pouring into Korea in the early 2010s, many other non-verbal shows also began to emerge in the burgeoning market, said Kim Hye-jin, general manager of the Korean Performing Arts and Tourism Association.

“Korea is now known as one of the biggest non-verbal show producers in the world,” she said. “Many shows are created to attract foreign tourists in the first place.”

One of the hottest non-verbal shows today is “Painters: Hero.” Started in a small theater in 2008, producers opened a theater exclusively for the show in Seoul after a five-year successful run.

“Jump,” a show combining martial arts with music and dance, won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005.

Byun Joo-young, marketing manager of the show, said one of her marketing strategies is audience-tailored performances.

“For example, if a group of spectators want to see a certain figures during our drawing show, they can tell us in advance. Then, performers can demonstrate them during their live show after practice. It could be letters, symbolic figures, stars or anything,” she said.

The 80-minute performance features painting, combined with amazing visual effects and a witty blend of dance and comedy. The manager said more than a half of its visitors are non-Koreans.

“Jump” is another popular show that combines martial arts with music and dance. The show made its international premiere at the 2005 Israel Festival and rose to fame after winning a series of awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival the same year. The show ranked No. 1 at the box office in Edinburgh for two years in a row till 2006.