It seems that Korean tourism is bucking all the trends
as visitor figures from the UK
continue to rise at a dramatic and impressive rate! In 2010 visitor arrivals
grew by 6% to 97,500 and between January and May 2011 there was an 11% increase
over the same period last year, reaching 45,000. All indications point to
breaking the 100,000 mark by the year-end, which is a fantastic achievement,
bearing in mind that UK visits
abroad by UK
residents has been falling since 2008.
Mr Hongki Kim, Director of the Korea Tourism
Organization – London office commented that “ten UNESCO heritages across the peninsula
have boosted the appeal of major historical sites in Korea. Added to which Korea
has been positioned as a new cruise destination with the key ports of Busan
& Incheon the major gateways to the country. All of which has paid
dividends to increase both awareness and appeal of Korea
as a tourism destination. From the 01st of July the ‘Free Trade
Agreement’ (FTA) between Europe & Korea will come into effect thus
generating more business travel to the region, so we are confident of smashing the
100,000 visitor mark”
Other
factors that are contributing to competitive growth in the tourism sector is
Korea’s efforts to globalize as a country, becoming an ever more popular venue
for a number of large cultural events that cross cultural boundaries and
provide excitement for visitors of all nationalities. For young music lovers,
there is ‘R-16 Korea’ (international B-Boy championships), ‘Korea in Motion’ (non-verbal
performance festival) and the ‘Asia Song Festival.’ For sports enthusiasts,
there’s the ‘F1 Korea Grand Prix’, now in its second year—which needs no
introduction!—and the ‘IAAF World Athletics Championships Daegu’ which is set
to attract the likes of Usain Bolt to hopefully go on and achieve new world
records.
Let’s
not forget that in recent years Korea
has increased the number of UNESCO inscribed cultural and natural heritages,
which have boosted visitation to these incredible sites. Those interested in
exploring Korean culture, history, and cultural heritage should check out the
historic city of Gyeongju
during the ‘Gyeongju World Culture Expo’ period.
Take
a look at our new website: www.gokorea.co.uk
- Ends -
For further information
please contact:
Mr. Ramy Salameh
Tel: 020 7321 2535 / Email:
london@gokorea.co.uk
Share
