Korea Sale Festa welcomes foreigners

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Cho Yoon-sun, third from left, poses with Dong Yu, second from left, and Kang Weilong, fourth from left, a Chinese couple who are the first foreign tourists to Korea on the first day of Korea Sale Festa, along with other dignitaries at Incheon International Airport, Saturday. They are, from left, Ma Won, executive vice president of Korean Air; Dong; Cho; Kang; Jung Chang-soo, CEO of Korea Tourism Organization; Cho Kyu-young, vice president of Asiana Airlines; and Kim Hong-ju, chairman of the Korea Tourism Association.

Poster of Korea Sale Festa

By Jung Min-ho

More than 260 manufacturers and retailers in Korea are offering a huge opportunity for shoppers this month.

Various companies offer large discounts and special promotions at their 59,000 shops for Korea Sale Festa, the country’s grandest shopping event that runs through October.

To attract foreign shoppers, the main target of the festival, many companies offer “something additional” to enrich their shopping experience.

For getting to Korea, Asiana Airlines offers travelers from China and Japan a “buy-one-get-one-free” deal, as well as up to a 60 percent discount to those flying to and from destinations in Southeast Asia and Europe. For lodging, Shilla Stay offers a free room upgrade, while Grand Hilton Seoul provides a 50 percent discount to guests staying for at least two nights.

For fans of K-pop and Korean TV shows, various events are scheduled. At COEX in southern Seoul from Oct. 15 to 16, visitors will have an opportunity to see their favorite stars up close and learn about different aspects of Korean culture. With luck, some of them will be selected to have a “shopping date” with celebrities.

Given that other festivals are also planned throughout the country during the same month, including the One Asia Festival in Busan and the Gwangju Biennale, many are expected to travel outside of Seoul. For foreign visitors, the K-Travel Bus, an intercity bus service operated by the Visit Korea Committee, offers a 50-percent discount.

Shopping deals will be the highlight of the Festa.

Last year, a nationwide discount event, Korea Black Friday, fell short of expectations largely because of the lack of participation of major manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics. Most participating businesses were retailers and, without cooperation from manufacturers, they could not offer the discounts that would live up to the event name.

Bouncing back from that mistake, the government invited some of the country’s biggest manufacturers of cosmetic products, clothes, electronics and cars for this year’s Korea Sale Festa, in which 265 companies are participating, compared with 92 last year.

Samsung Electronics is offering discounts from 40 to 53 percent on its 12 products. Some of the popular beauty products and household items of AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care will also carry discounted prices (20 to 50 percent). And Hyundai Motor offers discounts of up to 10 percent on some Sonata and Grandeur cars.

A tourist event center in Dongdaemun, central Seoul

Department stores including Korea’s top three — Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai — and duty-free shops as well as social commerce companies are offering their own discounts and promotions on luxury goods, fashion items and cosmetics, knocking down price tags by up to 80 percent.

Notably, Galleria Department Store said customers who spend more than 70,000 won ($64) before Oct. 16 are entered to win a free trip to Hawaii.

Sponsored by central and local governments, about 400 traditional markets will hold colorful events to attract their share of customers.

Each week will have its own additional discounts and deals divided under different themes — “must-buy week” (Oct. 1 to 9), “must-see week” (Oct. 10 to 16), “must-do week” (Oct. 17 to 23) and “must-eat week” (Oct. 24 to 31).

Expectations are high for the festival’s economic influence. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, about 250,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Korea during the first week of the festival, which coincides with the Chinese National Day holiday that runs from Oct. 1 to 7.

During the holiday, Shinsegae Duty Free holds “K-beauty and fashion week” at its Myeong-dong branch for tourists interested in Korea’s latest beauty trends and makeup knowhow.

Korea Sale Festa is co-organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Visit Korea Committee and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Organizers said they will make the festival a success by reinforcing monitoring for irregularities and collecting participants’ opinions.