Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon (fourth from left in the front row) on Feb. 28 poses for a group photo with the ambassadors of the five member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar -- and corporate representatives at the inauguration ceremony for A'alam Arabi Korea, a public-private consultative group to promote Arab tourism in Korea, at the hotel Shilla Seoul in the capital's Jung-gu District. (Heo Man-jin from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Tourism Organization on Feb. 28 held the inauguration ceremony for A'alam Arabi Korea, a public-private consultative group to attract Arab tourists to Korea, at the hotel Shilla Seoul in the capital's Jung-gu District.

With its name meaning "Arab world in Korea" in Arabic, the group aims to create a pro-Arab tourism environment in the country.

Attending the ceremony were Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon and Second Vice Minister Jang Miran, ambassadors from the five member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait -- and representatives from 31 companies in the six sectors of accommodations, medicine, beauty, shopping, food and beverage, and Korean culture.

The new body develops services customized for Arabs such as expanding amenities that consider food diversity and Arab culture-friendly amenities, two important factors for Arabs when they choose travel destinations.

To ease convenience for such visitors, Aalam Arabi Korea will also offer multilingual information on medical facilities and tourist attractions through Visit Korea (www.visitkorea.or.kr), the nation's leading channel for promoting domestic tourism, as well as online map service and tourism apps commonly used by locals.

The ministry will share data on trends of Mideast tourism in Korea and the status of major clients and demand with member companies of A'alam Arabi Korea, plus provide education and counseling to help the tourism industry understand Arab culture.

Another task is to support the development of customized tourism products for Middle Eastern tourists and promote them at festivals in the region such as the Qatar Culture Tourism Festival in May and the Dubai K-Tourism Roadshow in November.

The Mideast has attracted attention as a high-value tourism market given the high spending by tourists from the region, long stays and travel by large families. Last year, 31,029 tourists from the six GCC countries visited Korea, or 90% of the figure before the COVID-19 pandemic.

With K-pop and K-dramas growingly popular in the region among people in their 20s and 30s, Middle Eastern women are growingly interested in beauty, wellness and medical tourism in Korea.

Minister Yu said, "We will take a powerful first big step in our journey to stimulate Mideast tourism in Korea by partnering with businesses in the accommodation, medicine, beauty, shopping, food and beverage, and K-culture industries to create tourism services that are considerate of Arab culture."

dusrud21@korea.kr