Spring Blossoms in Korea at the Travel Tour Expo 2017

Meet and greet the new Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador Sue Ramirez

 


Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) showcased Korea's diverse products in this year's Travel Tour Expo (TTE). TTE was organized by the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) and was held at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, from February 10 to 12. The Korea Tourism Pavilion was located in booth area numbers 302-311 and 324-326 with the theme "Spring Blossoms in Korea." The Pavilion complemented the booths of Gangwon Province, Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, Busan Tourism Organization, Jeju Tourism Organization, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Jeju Air.


Headlining KTO's set of activities this year is the new Korean Tourism Ambassador Sue Ramirez. She performed Korean and Filipino pop songs on stage. Visitors had a chance to have autographs signed at the KTO Pavilion after her stage performance. Aside from Sue, two more celebrity guests graced the event - comedian and TV host Ryan Bang, and I Love OPM Grand Touristar Yohan Hwang.





Special segments about Korean food, beauty and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics completes the three-day program line-up at the Korea Tourism Pavilion. Visitors got to try and witness preparation of traditional Korean cuisine, join a K-Pop dance session, and experience a glam make-over.





They also got a chance to join he "Imagine Your Korea Stamp Tour" and collect stamps from participating regional tourism organizations to claim a special gift from KTO. Gangwon Province set up a PyeongChang Olympic Promotions booth wherein visitors will have a glimpse of the Winter Olympic Games. Prizes were given to those who joined the games and activities including stuffed toys of the official mascots, Soohorang and Bandabi, when you hit the right number combination in their digital slot machine.





KTO gave away souvenir items to everyone who booked and purchased plane tickets and tour packages to Korea on-the-spot from partner airlines and travel agencies. There will aslo be special gift packs for quiz winners.


According to KTO, Korea received a total of 17.2 million tourists in 2016, an increase of 30.3% over the previous year. From this number, 556,745 were Filipino tourists, posting a growth of 37% compared to the previous year's total of 403,622.