Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Government seeks 'quality' growth of MICE sector

Participants hold a meeting with Dahlia El Gazzar, center, a “tech evangelist” and founder of the Dahlia+ Agency, who appears as a hologram image on a monitor, during the Korea Tourism Organization's MICE conference held in Suwon Convention Center, Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 5. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism OrganizationBy Jun Ji-hyeThe government will push for various programs this year to foster the nation's meetings, incentives travel, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) sector in a bid to help stimulate the tourism industry hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. One of the programs is dubbed the “K-convention promotion project” aimed at better publicizing international conferences held in Korea. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will receive applications until June 2 from domestic institutions, companies and academics as well as international organizations stationed in Korea to select beneficiaries of the program.A poster for the K-convention promotion project run by the Korea Tourism Organization / Courtesy of Kore

May 7, 2020

Government seeks 'quality' growth of MICE sector

Hotel Lobby

By Jun Ji-hyeMillennium Hilton Seoul runs outdoor BBQ buffet The Oak Room, Millennium Hilton Seoul's traditional English-style pub, began running its popular outdoor BBQ buffet, May 1, which enables visitors to relax with friends, colleagues or family in a picturesque garden setting while enjoying fresh air and great food. The BBQ buffet is offered from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and diners will be able to receive unlimited refills of beer or wine while they feast. A lunch buffet is also now available from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with unlimited soft drink.The BBQ buffet is priced at 38,000 won ($31) per person for lunch and 54,000 won for dinner.The buffet includes assorted charcuterie, seasonal garden green mixed salad, German potato salad, Mediterranean salad, vegetable samosas, green mussel gratin, Korean-style spicy fried chicken, marinated spicy sous-vide pork chop, lamb shoulder, smoked pork belly sous-vide and more. The Oak Room features a patio with a breath-taking view of the garden and koi pond. Offerin

May 7, 2020

Jeju islanders have mixed feeling about tourists

Jeju International Airport is crowded with tourists Sunday as tourism to the southern island bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic. With Buddha's Birthday last Thursday and Children's Day this Tuesday, by taking a few extra days off work, people are enjoying up to a week off, enabling them to have enough time to explore the island or other tourist destinations. / YonhapTourism sector elated, yet some locals wary of virus infections By Kang Hyun-kyungJEJU ― A cafe in the Osulloc Tea Museum in Andeokmyeon, Seoguipo City, on the southern part of this island was crowded Thursday, as social distancing driven by the COVID-19 pandemic showed signs of easing with the sharp drop in daily infections. Named after sulloc, a homegrown tea from the southern island, Osulloc means the origin of green tea, and the tea plantation promotes itself as home to the premium product. The Osulloc Tea Museum compound stretches over 495,000 square meters in a once wilderness area and is a tourist hotspot. At the cafe, people sip green tea, other green tea-based drinks or coffee, while some enjoy green te

May 3, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung

Jeju islanders have mixed feeling about tourists

Nearly 140,000 tourists visit Jeju on 'golden holiday'

Massage therapist provides visitors with additional level of well-being

By Jun Ji-hyeProfessional massage therapist Park Chan-hong manages the Wellness Center of WE Hotel Jeju, known for its various therapy programs that help guests and visitors boost their immune response.Park Chan-hong, manager of the Wellness Center of WE Hotel Jeju / Courtesy of WE Hotel JejuSince he joined the hotel as the manager of the Wellness Center in February 2017, he has designed customized healthcare therapies, considering the health condition of each customer, in a bid to maximize effectiveness of the wellness programs.“I focus on communicating with customers to adjust the order and time of the programs to satisfy each individual,” Park said in an interview with The Korea Times. Park graduated from Cortiva Institute, one of the largest dedicated massage therapy and skin care school groups in the United States, in 2009. He has earned a certificate from the U.S.-based National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, as well as the Titleist Performance Institute (Level 1) certification.WE Hotel Jeju is operated by Jeju Halla Hospital, the resort

May 1, 2020

Massage therapist provides visitors with additional level of well-being

Family packages for May to amuse children

Millennium Hilton Seoul presents the HABA-themed room in its promotion for families with children in May. / Courtesy of Millennium Hilton SeoulBy Jun Ji-hyeMay is known as a “family month” in Korea as people celebrate Children's Day on May 5, Parents' Day on May 8 and Married Couples' Day on May 21.To provide guests with memorable moments on such special days with their families, many hotel brands here have unveiled a variety of packages and promotions.Millennium Hilton Seoul has launched the “Mom and Kids Family” package, offering a memorable experience on a refreshing day out in the family month.The package that runs until May 31 presents special themed rooms fully furnished with beds, rugs and tents from the German toy company HABA. The hotel has collaborated with the renowned interior designer Noh Jin-seon to create the HABA-themed room together to spark children's playful imaginations and curiosity with a unique range of HABA products. Guests can also enjoy the space that is exquisitely decorated with various kid-friendly items from Melissa & Doug, Sc

Apr 29, 2020

Family packages for May to amuse children

Government to nurture high-tech tourism ventures

CEOs of tourism startups participate in the demo day event for the Korea Tourism Organization's startup accelerating program in December last year. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism OrganizationBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) launched its annual project to nurture tourism startups with creative ideas Monday, beginning to receive applications from companies across the nation, the organization said.The KTO will accept applications until May 24, and will select 30 tourism ventures that will benefit from its acceleration program.The program is aimed at helping the promising startups to enhance their competitive power by offering initial investment and mentoring, among other kinds of support.The program will be led by three companies ― Venture Square, Y&Archer and CNTTech ― that were selected as the startup accelerators by the organization in March. Each of the three companies will choose 10 promising startups. Venture Square that operates the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' tech incubator program for startup (TIPS) will be able to link the participants in the KTO's acceler

Apr 29, 2020

Government to nurture high-tech tourism ventures

Walking tour catches on among Koreans

People stroll along the Yangjae Stream that flows through the southern part of Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap“Walking tours” are gaining popularity among South Koreans, especially those in their 20s and 30s, as an alternative to expensive, cumbersome forms of travel, according to government data. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced earlier this week the results of a survey about Koreans touring natural, historical and cultural attractions on footIt was conducted on 4,000 people aged between 15 and 79 nationwide from December 2018 to November 2019.The survey showed 37 percent of respondents went for walks during the period, up 6.1 percentage points from a year earlier. They went on an average of 4.2 trips.The increase was especially high among those in their 20s (9.7 percentage points) and 30s (12.1). While most people walked with family members (50.8 percent) and friends (33 percent), those traveling alone sharply increased to 17.7 percent from 5 percent the previous year. As to the attraction of walking trips, they cited the

Apr 25, 2020

No. of foreign tourists nose-dives in March amid coronavirus pandemic

A man wearing a mask as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic walks near Gwanghwamun, one of Korea's well-known landmarks, in Seoul, Thursday, April 23, 2020. APThe number of foreign arrivals in South Korea nose-dived nearly 95 percent last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Saturday. According to the data from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), 83,497 foreign nationals visited the country in March, down 94.6 percent from the same period last yearThe number of Chinese visitors, in particular, tumbled 96.6 percent year-on-year to 16,595, after Beijing issued a travel alert for 15 countries including South Korea as part of its COVID-19 preventive measures.Also, just 8,347 Japanese came to Korea last month, down 97.8 percent from 2019, following a higher level travel warning from Tokyo.The number of visitors from the rest of Asia and the Middle East slumped 93.7 percent, with a 99.4 percent drop in the number of Taiwanese tourists and a 99.4 percent fall in those traveling from Hong Kong.The coronavirus pandemic also pushed down the number of tourists fro

Apr 25, 2020

No. of foreign tourists nose-dives in March amid coronavirus pandemic

Walking trips becoming popular among young people

Tourists walk along the Jeju Olle Trail, a walking path on Jeju Island. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism OrganizationBy Jun Ji-hyeHiking and walking trips offering a chance to marvel at breathtaking scenery have become more popular over the past year, especially among people in their 20s and 30s, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Friday.Walking trips refer to visits to regions famous for hiking and walking paths that offer an understanding of the local history and culture in addition to superb natural landscapes. In a survey conducted by the organization, 37 percent of respondents said they had gone on a hike or walk between December 2018 and November 2019, up 6.1 percentage points from a year earlier. While the number of walkers and hikers rose in every age group, the survey showed a marked increase in the number of young walkers ― the trips of people in their 20s and 30s increased 9.7 percentage points and 12.1 percentage points, respectively.Those surveyed said they appreciated the scenery while strolling, and had a chance to clear their heads from worries during walkin

Apr 22, 2020

Walking trips becoming popular among young people

Gov't expands beneficiaries in vacation support program

By Jun Ji-hyeThe government has decided to expand beneficiaries in its vacation support program for workers at small or medium-sized companies in a bid to help boost the domestic tourism industry that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, officials said Friday. A poster for the vacation support program run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization / Courtesy of Korea Tourism OrganizationThe program run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is aimed at vitalizing domestic travel and improving a corporate culture regarding vacation of employees.The program calls on workers to pay 200,000 won ($163) in their vacation expenses, and companies and the government to grant 100,000 won to each of them. The government began to receive applications for the program, Tuesday, to collect an additional 40,000 beneficiaries. This will raise the total number to 120,000 this year, including the 80,000 that have been already selected.The KTO said the measure was to minimize adverse effects on the tourism i

Apr 22, 2020By Jun Ji-hye

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