Adaptation of Tourism Industry

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