The Korea National Tourism Organization is targeting Korea’s three major markets America, China, and Japan through online tourism promotional campaigns. During the month of November, an online promotional campaign will be carried out through three Yahoo networks: Yahoo!com , Yahoo!China , and Yahoo!Japan.

The Korea National Tourism Organization has been working with Yahoo networks operating online promotional campaigns since July of this year. The campaign banner for November will be advertising the slogan ‘Dynamic Korea!’ On Yahoo.com, KNTO’s animated characters ‘chorong-ee’ and ‘saekdong-ee’ will be incorporated in the banner to help convey Korea’s traditional images. Simultaneously on Yahoo China and Yahoo Japan, “Korea Wave” star Bae Yong joon’s image will be used, as well as the animated characters, to aid in the promotion of the “Korea Wave” campaign thus further expanding the scope of Korean tourism.

In connection with the banner advertisement, the Korea National Tourism Organization’s multi-lingual information site, www.tour2korea.com, will be holding an event where netizens can choose the most representative image of Korea. Participating netizens will have the chance to win a Korean tour package, Korea image calendar, tickets to Jump (nonverbal performance), or a box set of Korean pop music. Other marketing methods include the promotional sites at Yahoo!Japan and Yahoo!China, and e-mails targeting Yahoo members.

Since the start of the online promotion campaign through Yahoo networks in July, the tour2korea.com site has seen an eightfold increase in new membership. Currently, there are more than 210,000 foreign members, with daily average pageviews showing increases of 20-550%, varying by language site.

To help boost the community activities on the eight language sites of tour2korea.com, KNTO has been carrying out specialized domestic theme tours for site members. In October, ten members of the Russian site and 18 members of the German site were given trips to Jiri Mountains and the green tea fields in Boseong. The Chinese site is currently organizing a trip to Jeju for its members.

The Korea National Tourism Organization is currently marketing Hallyu towards China, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Hallyu refers to the “Korea Wave” phenomenon sweeping through Southeast Asia and China. It describes a newfound popularity of Korean pop music, movies, TV dramas and things Korean. Hallyu has also been chosen as the 2004 Korean tourism marketing theme.


Inquiries: e-Marketing Team, Korean National Tourism Organization
Team Manager: Hong Eunmee (02-7299-321)