Foreign tour ambassadors to promote Seoul

By Kang Seung-woo

The Seoul Tourism Organization has fielded a delegation of “global ambassadors” who will promote Seoul to the world as a holiday destination this year.

According to the body, Thursday, it has selected 100 foreign residents from 44 countries as its 2019 Global Seoul Mates. Their job will be creating photo and video content to show Seoul's many charms to the world through its official tourism website and other social media platforms.

The annual program was launched in 2012 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the tourism organization took it over in 2017.

Year by year, the program has gained prominence among foreign nationals here and a total of 471 applied to be a Global Seoul Mate this year. It is open to all foreign residents here with no limits on age.

“The Global Seoul Mates are a delegation of foreign residents with capabilities to create diverse yet creative content promoting Seoul as an attractive tourist destination,” an official of the organization said.

“We are set to give full support for them to find hidden charms of the capital and promote them globally.”

This year's Global Seoul Mates will come up with diverse promotional content each month in accordance with the organization's tourism information and theme, which will be uploaded on their own social media. 2018's delegation created a total of 1,810 entries.

This year, the global ambassadors will be focused on promoting lesser-known yet glamorous places in the 25 districts of Seoul. To this end, there will be two tours each in spring and fall and the ambassadors will visit to search for attractive spots from a foreigner's perspective.

In addition, amid growing appetite for culinary and experience tours, they also plan to invent “missions” and execute them.