By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will focus on two objectives to fuel tourism growth this year - increasing social awareness of the importance of the industry, and creating a boom for new tourism business start-ups similar to the IT venture boom that swept Korea in the late 1990s on the back of strong government support.
The tourism agency will expand financial aid to tourism-related business start-ups. KTO will create a fund of 10 billion won for the project and provide consulting, as the initial part of systematic aid packages for those with fresh ideas for tourism growth, the KTO said Monday.
Additionally, it will introduce new promotional drives such as the "Korea Tourism Supporters," composed of both Koreans and non-Koreans, who will work with local governments to exchange ideas about how best to develop the country as a tourist attraction.
"The time has come for Korean tourism to make a mark," KTO President Lee Charm said during a press conference at the KTO headquarters in central Seoul. "The number of foreign tourists to Korea in January has shown a slight increase from the same period last year," he said.
"Expectations are running high after the number of foreign tourists reached a record number of 7.8 million last year. We are anticipating better results this year," he said. The KTO is targeting 8.5 million foreign tourists in 2010.
The KTO will step up cooperation with the Visit Korea Committee in organizing the "Visit Korea 2010-2012" campaign, aimed at generating $10 billion in annual tourism revenue.
It is the third such national promotion following two previous campaigns in 1994 and 2001-2002.
Through the campaign, Korea wants to be among the top 20 countries in global tourism competitiveness.
China and Japan are also staging national tourism campaigns, but Lee said that he doesn't think these pose a threat to the Visit Korea campaign, viewing it as an opportunity to create a win-win situation for Asian tourism.
"When we visit Europe, for example, we don't just go to one country. Rather, we visit several at once. We can cooperate to induce similar travel patterns from long-distance travelers to Asia," Lee said.
The KTO will engage in working-level negotiations with authorities in China and Japan to seek synergy effects for simultaneous tourism campaigns in the three countries.
In November 2009, Korea introduced a set of measures to facilitate Chinese entry through a visa waiver program for tourists staying up to 30 days.