Lately, Korea
became the center of the stage for tourism, thanks to the expansion of Korean
K-Pop and the worldwide success Gangnam Style. More and more foreigners are now
attracted to the Korean culture, ans are willing to visit the country. Last
March, the country received more than 1 million tourists from all over the
world. However, this number has been increasing since Korea hosted the Olympic Games
in 1988 with 2.3 million tourists this year (see graph below).
The Olympic Games increased the economy of the country
thanks to FDI, and the country became democratic five years later. Following
this period, Korea was exposed to western culture through music, television,
sports, fashion, and even gastronomy. However, even if Korea is now an
attractive touristic place, it not for its sightseeing places, which remain few
compared to others countries (mainly due to Japanese invasion in the 1910-1945
which destroyed the country). This is the reason why Korea is planning to develop
tourism programs in order to remain an attractive place for travelers.
Tourism for western travelers being quite new for
Korea, we can see the country, and particularly the city of Seoul, adapting
itself to those new travelers. All of the touristic places such as palaces,
temples, and famous districts have English, Chinese, and Japanese explanations
and guides. When going to the tourist center, we can also find numerous numbers
of brochures in English with quality content about the different district of the
city. Also, different travel companies are organizing tours other than just
sightseeing, such as street food tours, gastronomy being an important part of
Korean culture, or temple stays to experience Korean traditional Buddhism.
Even if only the majority of the Korean population
cannot speak English, we can see more and more effort put into the different
infrastructure to welcome western visitors, such as in restaurants, bars,
supermarkets and others everyday facilities. Our next article will talk about
restaurants adaptation in more details. Korea is investing a lot of energy and
money to be able to keep this flow of travelers for the next years and attract
even more people.
If we focus on the number one nationality travelling
in Korea, which are the Chinese, there is still a lack of tour guide able to
speak Chinese, or even facilities to be able to accommodate them during the
Gold Week, which shows the interest that China has for travelling in Korea, and
the urge for the country to develop its infrastructures for those new waves of tourists.
Ophélie Bourgeois
References
CNNGo Staff. (2012, October 9). Chinese tourists now No.
1 in Korea. Not all are happy. View on April 2013, on CNN Travel:
http://travel.cnn.com/seoul/visit/chinese-tourists-now-no1-in-korea-124981
So-young, S. (2012, October 19). Tourism Industry is learning to Adapt. View on April 2013, on Korea JoongAng Daily: http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2961025