Visit Korea Committee Activities

Let’s Practice the “K-Smile” in Japan too! The Korea–Japan Festival 2017 in Tokyo
Let’s Practice the “K-Smile” in Japan too! The Korea–Japan Festival 2017 in Tokyo     The 2017 Korea–Japan Festival, the largest cultural exchange event between the two neighboring countries, was held at the Hibiya Park in Tokyo on September 23rd and 24th. Let’s find out which performances caught the attention of visitors. Representatives of the two countries have made congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony, boosting the festive mood. On behalf of the Korean delegation, Visit Korea Committee Chairman Park Sam-koo announced the opening of the event and it was followed by the special congratulatory addresses by Lee Hee-bum, the chairman of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee, and Choi Moon-soon, the governor of Gangwon, the host province of the winter Olympics. This two-day event was joined by the members of the University Students’ National Smile Team who are at the forefront of spreading a culture of kindness. The members who had worked on preparations for visitors were giving the final touches by putting promotional leaflets and souvenirs neatly on the tables! 🙂 The elaborately arranged booth featured the programs of putting tattoo stickers and making eco-bags based on the concept of Soohorang and Bandabi—the mascots of the forthcoming PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games—as well as Olympic winter games in virtual reality and a roulette game! As a reflection of the huge interest in the Winter Olympics, a large number of people visited our booth. Attracting the most attention was the roulette event! It was designed to promote the K-Smile Campaign vigorously. Participants in the roulette game were excited over which kind of souvenir they would get. Another popular event was tattoo sticker decoration! The Olympic mascots Suhorang and Bandarang were enjoying wide popularity in Japan as well! By next year, perhaps Suhorang and Bandarang might surpass Pororo the Little Penguin, a Korean animation character loved all over the world, in popularity!? 😀 Adults as well as children were having a delightful time taking pictures with Suhorang and Bandabi. To give emotional support to hardworking members of the University Students’ National Smile Team, Chairman Park Sam-koo and Secretary-General Han Kyung-ah of the Visit Korea Committee visited the booth! All the people had a great time taking commemorative photographs. The highlight of this promotion was a flash mob performance to wish for the success of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games! It featured a collaboration between the Korea Foundation and the University Students’ National Smile Team! It seems that we have moved a step closer toward the PyeongChang Olympics through the performance. This event is expected to have contributed to expanding the exchanges between the two countries.
Date : 2017/09/29 | Views : 5555
Launch Ceremony of the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team
Launch Ceremony of the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team For the past five months, the 16th University Students’ National Smile Team enjoyed a successful term. Building upon their energy, the Visit Korea Committee held a launch ceremony for the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team. On September 15 and 16, this launch ceremony was held at a special location: Gangwon Province, the host of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Shall we take a look at the first activity of the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team? The highlight of the launch ceremony was the orientation. The team members had the opportunity to get to know one another! They were informed about the activities scheduled for the next five months, and learned how to make online content using social media. The 17th University Students’ National Smile Team will play a leading role in promoting the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. As members of the National Smile Team, they will engage in various activities to spread a culture of kindness until February next year, so as to ensure the success of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. To reflect their hope for the success of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the team presented a flash mob performance in Yongpyong Resort. Everyone danced completely in sync even though it was only their first attempt. Kindness and warm smiles are virtues of the University Students’ National Smile Team. 🙂 Ahead of promoting the K-Smile Campaign at Gangneung Jungang Market, they attended K-Smile and traditional market training sessions. The team’s first in-person activity was to boost participation in the pledge of kindness among stall keepers at traditional markets. They wore bright smiles on their faces and helped to spread positive energy to the participants. There are high hopes and expectations for the new appointees of the 17th team. We hope to see them set an example as K-Smile ambassadors, and to do their best in creating a warm, hospitable Korea. Cheers to the 17th University Students’ National Smile Team!
Date : 2017/09/25 | Views : 5063
Visit Korea Committee Holds Welcoming Banquet and Opening Ceremony for 2017 Seoul International Travel Mart (SITM)
Visit Korea Committee Holds Welcoming Banquet and Opening Ceremony for 2017 Seoul International Travel Mart (SITM)     Korea’s largest travel fair was jointly organized by the Visit Korea Committee, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Korea Association of Travel Agents. The 2017 Seoul International Travel Mart (SITM) was held for two days on September 12 and 13. More than 1200 travel agencies from within and outside Korea participated in the event.   The 2017 SITM kicked off with an opening ceremony. The participants made use of this opportunity to interact with tourism professionals from all around the world. ^^ Various tourism products were introduced at one of the many booths. Students from a tourism high school even gave out handmade bread and cookies. Throughout the event hall, it was wonderful to meet so many people involved in promoting tourism in Korea. This is the Visit Korea Committee’s booth! The key programs introduced were the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year, Korea Tour Card, K-Smile, and the Hands-Free Service. And let’s not forget the Korea Sale FESTA, Korea’s largest shopping and tourism event. The nationwide festival will begin on September 28. In the evening, the welcoming banquet was held in Some Sevit to celebrate the opening of the SITM. Some Sevit is comprised of three manmade floating islands that light up the Han River, creating a beautiful scene. It’s highly recommended to foreigners, especially with the recent cool weather. The event enjoyed a huge turnout of 1,200 participants. Visit Korea Committee Secretary-General Han Kyung-ah said a few words at the opening ceremony. The unique appeal of Seoul lies in its harmony of tradition and modernity. Which are the must-see places in Seoul for foreign tourists? At the opening performance, 19 distinguished guests including the vice-mayor of Seoul took the stage to introduce the city’s landmarks!! The eight landmarks, selected as the pride of the city, were Seoullo 7017, N Seoul Tower, DDP, Lotte World Tower, Gwangjang Market, Seoul Trail, Seoul City Wall, and the National Museum of Korea. The audience was captivated by The Painters: HERO, a non-verbal art performance featuring dynamic moves and vivid colors. During the two days of the 2017 SITM, the Visit Korea Committee was able to introduce its key activities to visitors while learning about other tourism programs. The committee will continue working hard to promote Korea to more foreigners. Do look forward to our next event. ^^
Date : 2017/09/20 | Views : 5734
Promoting the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year at the 2017 MATTA Fair
Promoting the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year at the 2017 MATTA Fair The Visit Korea Committee attended the 2017 MATTA Fair in Malaysia to promote the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year. During the three-day fair from September 8 to 10, we had the opportunity to promote Korea, and to introduce the Korea Tour Card and other programs of the Visit Korea Committee.   The MATTA Fair was a huge travel fair with more than 1,000 booths and 100,000 visitors. A good number of countries had their own unique booths that allowed visitors to appreciate the diversity of the international community.    Many visitors dropped by the Visit Korea Committee’s booth within the Korea Hall. It was rewarding to see so many people asking questions in exchange for our leaflets, which contained souvenirs and useful information. The visitors easily understood the rules of Yut Nori, a traditional Korean board game.Even some passersby joined in after watching a few rounds.We were grateful for the interest shown by foreigners in our traditional game, and hope to introduce more games next time.   Another event that we organized was a pop quiz. To our delight, many people were already aware of the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year and gave the right answer. The Seoul Booth was among the several booths dedicated to Korea. The Seoullo path, which opened in May this year, has gained reputation as a new landmark of the city. Seoullo connects 17 paths featuring major tourist attractions and is highly recommended for foreign tourists.   Thanks to everyone’s interest and participation, we were able to promote Korea to the world at the 2017 Matta Fair. We hope to see more foreign tourists visiting Korea.
Date : 2017/09/12 | Views : 6845
Follow-up Coverage of the Visit Korea Committee’s Social Media Event “A trip to tourist attractions in Pyeongchang that people
Follow-up Coverage of the Visit Korea Committee’s Social Media Event “A trip to tourist attractions in Pyeongchang that people from all over the world are paying attention to!”     Do you remember the online survey event in celebration of the G-200 of the PyeongChang Olympics that took place in July? At that time, the Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm was selected as the most popular tourist destination by Koreans, and the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center was the first choice for people from other countries! To show you more vivid views of the most popular tourist destinations from the survey results, the online service staff of the Visit Korea Committee went to Pyeongchang. It took almost three hours by car from Seoul to Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province. On arrival in Pyeongchang, it was the right time to get something to eat! We all know that a loaf of bread is better than the song of many birds! Prior to our coverage coming in full swing, we had the famous Korean Table d’hote with gondre-bab (seasoned thistle with rice) in Gangwon Province. When you are on a trip, trying the region’s local food is more than just a great experience. It can be something memorable later on, and besides, it is usually very healthy! The abundantly served gondre-bab can be found anywhere in Gangwon Province. We strongly recommend trying it! After the meal, our coverage began! The first place to visit is the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center, which was chosen to be the most popular tourist destination by people from other countries! Having overwhelmingly topped on the social media pages in English, Japanese, and Chinese (Traditional), this place plans to host the competitions of ski-jumping and Nordic combined at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. We took a ride on the monorail to go up to the top of the ski-jumping hills. It was so steep and high that we already felt dizzy going up for 5 minutes. With the Special Monorail Ticket, you can go up to the ski-jumping hills and see ski-jumpers prepare to glide down at a very close distance. The height of the jumping hills is about 69 meters, which is almost 850 meters above sea level. (The athletes who can make their jumps here are truly amazing!) Due to the climate of Gangwon Province where it snows heavily in winter, the path to the top of the jumping hills is made of mesh to prevent snow from piling up! Our legs shook as we walked on it! You might be wondering what Gangwon Province looks like from the observatory. As expected, the panoramic view of Alpensia and Gangwon Province from up here was spectacular. It looks green because it’s the beginning of autumn now. But when the Winter Olympics are held in February, the whole area will be covered in snow; hence the view will be even more beautiful! The next place is the one that received ardent responses from Korean tourists! It’s the Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm, where sheep are running around a wide field of grass! With an admission ticket, you can have an amazing experience of feeding cute sheep with dried hay! We wanted to stay a bit longer as we all had a good time with the sheep, eating everything we gave them. But it was time to leave for the next destination: Gangneung for dinner! Gangneung is one of the three host cities of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics. Located on the east coast of Korea, it attracts tourists with its local dishes made from fresh seafood. It is a jaw-droppingly huge spicy seafood stew, isn’t it? It may look a bit strange to foreign tourists, but we would recommend trying it when you visit the east coast. The broth made from fresh seafood tastes amazing! Anmok Beach took 1st place on the social media page of Chinese (Simplified)! It was a nice place to be even when the sun went down, as the coffee streets were illuminated with beautiful lights. What do you think of the day and night at Anmok Beach? Don’t you think they feel quite different? With beautifully lit cafes, Anmok Beach looked stunning after sunset and was perfect for an evening walk! The first thing we did on the second day was to try Gangneung’s two local plates: gamja-ongsimi, a soup with potato dumplings, and gamja-jeon, a crispy potato pancake! You can also have a variety of dishes made of potatoes in this city, including gamja-kalguksu and gamja-sujebi. If you love potatoes and happen to be in Gangneung, you should try a bowl of gamja-ongsimi! This is the Yeongjin Beach Seawall, the place our staff were so enthusiastic about! This place is also famous for being a shooting location of the drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God! Every moment we spent here was shining because the weather was good, because the weather was bad, and because the weather was moderate. * _ * On this day, the sky was so clear and looked very harmonious with the sea; it was just awe-inspiring scenery!   Farther down from the Yeongjin Beach Seawall, there is another beach called Kangmun. It is also a popular place that offers photo zones along the beach so that families, friends, and couples can take great photos and keep their memorable moments! If you are visiting Gangneung, you should visit at least one of the many beaches! People even visit the east coast in winter to see the sea. This is the PyeongChang 2018 House, a public relations center for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, where you can get a sense of the big events already! The center provides VR devices and 4-D screening to give visitors a livelier experience of winter sports and an introduction to Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon! Once you have visited the center, please remember to leave your message of support for a successful Olympics! ^^ The last place we would like to introduce is the Seongyojang House, Gangneung. It is designated as the Important Folklore Cultural Heritage No. 5, and known to be one of the best traditional houses in Korea! The house now offers the hanok stay service—a hanok is Korea’s traditional-style house. Just being out there could offer a spiritual healing session, as the property is surrounded by natural beauty. It’s been a short but very fruitful exploration of the tourist attractions around Pyeongchang! We were thrilled to visit the hosting cities of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games prior to the openings. ^ _ ^ We hope you will enjoy more of the vibrant and beautiful Pyeongchang this winter!
Date : 2017/09/11 | Views : 7164