Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yongman on the afternoon of April 5 speaks at a briefing on his ministry's plan "K-Tourism, a Leading Powerful Engine for Korean Economy" at Korea Press Center in Seoul. (Ministry official Heo Man-jin)
Video = Kim Sunjoo, Lee Jun Young
Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yongman on April 5 announced the plan "K-Tourism, a Leading Powerful Engine for Korean Economy" to stimulate domestic tourism at Korea Press Center in Seoul.
The measures mentioned included strategies to attract more tourists and have them spend more.
The gist of the plan is to hold a campaign for "Visit Korea Year 2023" by using Korean culture as an "irreplaceable weapon," expand support for discount coupons for lodging and amusement parks and the work-life balance of Generation MZ (millennials and Generation Z), designate June as the month of tourism and stimulate domestic travel.
The plan customizes marketing by country and generation. For example, the Korea-Japan Future Culture Tourism Partnership Project will use interest in Korea among Japan's Generation MZ to encourage visits to Korea during Japan's Golden Week from April 29 to May 7.
A campaign featuring "Winter Sonata," a popular K-drama from 2002, will evoke memories and nostalgia of the drama among middle-aged fans of the Korean Wave.
For China's five-day break around Labor Day on May 1, the ministry and Chinese online travel agencies since March have run the campaign "Let's Go to Korea Again" (unofficial translation) to raise Chinese demand to visit Korea.
The K-Tourism Roadshow will be held in Beijing in May, New York in July and Los Angeles in August.
A planned "tourism cluster" will integrate visits to Cheong Wa Dae, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village and Seochon Village in Seoul as well as a hike of Bugaksan Mountain to turn the area into a tourist landmark.
Ten traditional markets will be selected for "rebirth" as leading tourist attractions of the region. And a succession of large-scale K-pop concerts and festivals nationwide will include Seoul Festa in April, Busan Dream Concert in May and Hallyu Tourism Festival in October.
The visa system will also see improvements. Requirements of the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) are expected to be scrapped for tourists from 22 countries like the U.S., U.K., France, Spain and Germany that have high numbers of incoming tourists and extremely low rates of visa rejection.
Services in Chinese, Spanish, French and Malay will be added to the K-ETA website and visa duration will be extended from two to three years for tourist convenience.
The introduction of new visas will also reflect the latest tourism trends. Coming in June are K-Culture training visas, which allow foreign youth to take classes in Korean culture in Korea, and the digital nomad (workcation) visa comes out in December.
"Our country has outstanding K-dramas, K-pop and K-food and high levels of public security and social order," Vice Minister Cho said. "Korea has tourism different from those of other countries with its four seasons and beautiful mountains and seas, and I look forward to the future."