Visit Korea Committee Activities

“2016–2018 Visit Korea Year” Promoted at 2017 Korea Festival in India
“2016–2018 Visit Korea Year” Promoted at 2017 Korea Festival in India   The Visit Korea Committee participated in the 2017 Korea Festival in India from Saturday, November 25 to Sunday, November 26! Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, the event presented Korea’s iconic tourist attractions, traditional culture experiences, Korean dishes, K-pop, and K-beauty.    Want to know why you have to visit Korea this winter? That’s because the Korea Grand Sale is about to begin alongside the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games! Korea’s largest festival for shopping, cultural experiences, and sightseeing for foreign tourists is to take place from January 18 to February 28 next year in Korea! Don’t you feel excited already?  The Visit Korea Committee’s booth was crowded with visitors even when seen from a distance, where we got great attention for the whole weekend and was cheered as much to promote our campaign.  One of the promotional events was Yunnori, a traditional Korean board game. Even though the local visitors have never seen the game before, they all had so much fun playing it and were delighted to win giveaway gifts.   We participated in a media conference held for about 40 journalists from local and Korean press organizations to have a valuable time introducing the Korea Festival and greeting and having lunch with VIPs.  The intense competition for coverage among Indian media outlets showed how Korea is getting more and more attention internationally! As the event has been covered nationwide in India, we hope the Indians get to see the great culture of Korea once again.  We also showcased the VR experience zone that is really hot these days, hoping the visitors could have a realistic tour of Korea even while in India. 🙂 This corner was to promote the PyeongChang Olympics! As the 2018 Winter Olympics was being introduced worldwide, a lot of local Indians paid attention and visited us here. Why don’t you visit the host city of Pyeongchang next February? There was a hanbok experience section where visitors could have a unique time trying the Korean traditional clothes on in person. The local people were fascinated by the refined charms of hanbok, especially among women. 😀  A roulette event booth was always full of visitors as we provided various giveaways and experiences for them! Even I myself couldn’t take my eyes off the exciting event.    Some of Korea’s iconic performances were presented as well. The event site was buzzing with performances by b-boy crews! As more and more people came to enjoy the exciting music and awesome b-boying, the show got into the full swing. There was another performance called Nanta. While appreciating its exciting beats, people had fun bursting into laughter. Enjoying the various experiences and performances, visitors could get closer to Korea. As reported above, the oversea fair ended as a success. If this event has left you with a special memory of Korean culture, why don’t you visit Korea itself?
Date : 2017/12/04 | Views : 5201
Successful Appointment Ceremony for the 14th Workers’ National Smile Team
Successful Appointment Ceremony for the 14th Workers’ National Smile Team       Last Thursday, November 23! Many in the tourism industry are working tirelessly to make Korea a friendlier place and the Visit Korea Committee invited some of these distinguished individuals to a ceremony where they were commissioned to the National Smile Team! Fifty-seven professionals working directly with foreign tourists in immigration/customs, transportation, accommodation, shopping, dining, tour information and other areas attended the very special function. The program promoted the success of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (now less than one hundred days away!!) and this made the awards ceremony even more meaningful. A unique “flash mob” to wish for a successful PyeongChang Olympics by members of the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team who are working to spread the K-Smile campaign set the mood at the event! With members of both the Workers’ National Smile Team and the University Students’ National Smile Team in attendance, the flash mob surprise broke up any awkward silences around the tables at the event hall. Next, Visit Korea Committee Secretary-General Han Kyung-ah spoke to the audience. She thanked the workers in the tourism industry for their support in critical roles that are ensuring the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games goes off without a hitch. 🙂 The ceremony for giving awards and certificates of recognition! Ten members of the Workers’ National Smile Team came up on stage to receive tokens on behalf of the fifty-seven new members being commissioned to their roles on the Team. Secretary-General Han conveyed awards and congratulated recipients individually. For the sake of time, only ten people were on stage at the event, but let’s not forget to congratulate all the new members of the team! We have high hopes for what each Workers’ National Smile Team member will do to demonstrate friendliness to everyone they meet in the future. Actor Hong Jong-hyun was also commissioned for the Workers’ National Smile Team at the ceremony!!!! Hong is enjoying popularity overseas and he never fails to be friendly to foreigners and show a sense of hospitality. 🙂 His smile is a national treasure!!! Anyone seeing his happy expression will also find the corners of their mouth heading north. LOL! Hong is sparing no effort to help create a friendlier Korea. Here he is holding the pledge of kindness that he signed. Finally, no event like this can end without a group smile shot with all the Workers’ National Smile Team together!!!!!! Congratulations again to the fifty-seven new team members who have been commissioned to lead efforts to develop a more hospitable culture in Korea... Yippee!
Date : 2017/11/29 | Views : 3986
“Visit Korea Year” Promoted at the 2017 World Travel Market in London, UK
“Visit Korea Year” Promoted at the 2017 World Travel Market in London, UK   The Visit Korea Committee joined the Korea exhibition at the 2017 World Travel Market, which was held in the UK from November 6th to 8th, to publicize the Visit Korea Year. At the Korea exhibition, Korean airliners, hotels, travel agencies, and local governments, as well as the Visit Korea Committee, promoted the charms of Korea and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, drawing the attention of many visitors. 🙂 The Korea exhibition was so crowded with visitors! Do you see Soohorang, the mascot of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games? The exhibition showcased a variety of tourism products of Gangwon Province, where the PyeongChang Olympics will be held. It also offered Korean food and culture experience activities, virtual reality activities, and free giveaways, attracting many visitors! The Visit Korea Committee’s booth also enjoyed a lot of visitors. As a promotional booth for the 2016-2018 Visit Korea Year, it focused particularly on Korea tourism services for foreign travelers. 🙂 At a “like” event, visitors received tourism leaflets and free giveaways. You should really come to Korea! The country has more surprises than you can imagine. “Korea Tourism Networking,” one of the main events at the Korea exhibition, introduced 80 local UK reporters and tourism professionals to various aspects of Korea. We were nervous and excited hosting such a big event and curious about how they would think of Korea. The Korea Tour Card is an unmissable item in a promotion of Korea. This well-rounded card is comparable to the Oyster Card and London Pass in the UK. We explained the guests a wide range of benefits provided by the Korea Tour Card available for shopping, sightseeing, cultural experiences, food, and others. Our presentation was well received by them. Some of the guests showed genuine interest in the Korea Tour Card and told us that they would like to use it if they have a chance to visit Korea. 🙂 We highly recommend it! Our mission doesn’t end there. Now we’ll keep up our efforts to promote the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and to increase return visits to Korea! Please keep your interest in our activities.
Date : 2017/11/22 | Views : 4645
Foreign Tourists Given Warn Welcome at Welcome Center
Foreign Tourists Given Warm Welcome at Welcome Centers     The Seoul Welcome Week, organized with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to attract foreign tourists, enjoyed a successful run in the month of October. The Visit Korea Committee opened welcome centers from October 13 to 22 in major tourist destinations: Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Namdaemun, Itaewon, Gwangjang Market, Hongdae, and Namsan. The welcome centers provided tourists with various information on popular attractions, festivals, and events. Visitors were able to get prompt service and have their questions answered immediately. 🙂 Foreign tourists learned how to play a traditional Korean game called ddakji. The folded paper tiles also made a good souvenir for them to bring back home. The highlight of the Welcome Week was the prize giveaways. Visitors received vouchers for admission to popular attractions in the city. Do make use of your voucher, and create more unforgettable memories during your stay! The welcome centers offered visitors the chance to wear hanbok, the traditional Korean attire. Don’t you agree they go well with the background? The welcome centers remained open into the late hours. We’re ready to welcome you any time, be it day or night. Not surprisingly, Seoul’s vibrant nightlife kept visitors coming all night long. The Welcome Week flew by with many foreign tourists visiting Korea in the month of October. We look forward to welcoming more tourists at new attractions next time.
Date : 2017/11/08 | Views : 4620
The University Students’ National Smile Team Has Hospitality Culture Exchange in Niigata Prefecture
The University Students’ National Smile Team Has Hospitality Culture Exchange in Niigata Prefecture     While Korea is busy preparing for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Japan is also not far away from hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games! As Korea and Japan are to welcome many foreign visitors from now on, the two countries decided to hold a special event to spread a culture of friendly hospitality among their people. The University Students’ National Smile Team, always at the forefront of promoting a culture of kindness, spent two nights in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, from October 24 while sharing their practices of kindness. Let’s take a look at how our proud students were working to spread a culture of kindness even abroad. 🙂 Japan is famous for its hot springs! For hospitality training, we visited a hotel with the Yutagami Hot Spring, which is popular with foreign visitors. Under a program of omotenashi—a Japanese mindset that covers the virtues, kindness, and hospitality necessary for tourism—we learned about the Japanese culture of kindness and also took part in hands-on activities! We were back in Niigata three months after the last visit in July where the prefecture and the Visit Korea Committee signed an MOU! This time we were together with our student members, adding to the excitement. 🙂 In this visit, we opened up new channels of communication, talking about the progress made by the K-Smile Campaign since the signing of the MOU and our experiences in the hospitality training! Niigata Prefecture’s Vice-Governor Takai Morio presented us with souvenirs, including dolls of the prefecture’s mascot, and offered words of encouragement to the University Students’ National Smile Team members, who are working hard to promote the K-Smile Campaign. With renewed energy we headed to our next destination, the Airline International & Resort College. We spent time with the students sharing the respective hospitality each party practices at a student level aiming to make the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games a success, and also engaged in activities to expand mutual exchanges! Even though we were only there for a short time, we were able to become good friends quickly since we all shared the same goal of spreading kindness culture! We learned a lot and spent some quality time with the other students. The Visit Korea Committee, the University Students’ National Smile Team, and Niigata Prefecture will take the lead in spreading a culture of kindness for the success of the mega-events that each country will be hosting from next year!
Date : 2017/10/27 | Views : 4149