Comments on: Problems Facing Korean Tourism

By: manbitesdog

manbitesdog — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:44:04 +0000

to follow on from above post. the biggest tourist group to korea are japanese. why do they come? because they can within a weekend and
a)to eat yakiniku (korean bbq/sambab),
b) for sex tourism (assuming the mrs isnt in tow)
c) for cheaper plastic surgery

none of which was highlighted in the promo. cynacism aside,japanese are keen on korean food and food is an important component of travel for them - so that would be an obvious marketing thrust. authentic, tasty korean food.

the bottom line, though, is that the country is not a nice place to be in. koreans need to improve basic living conditions for themselves and then tourists may follow from that. i remember being in suwon prior to the world cup and there was all this talk about reducing air-pollution and traffic congestion cause all the weinom will be watching. why not do it for yourselves?

By: sewing

sewing — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:23:27 +0000

…had a hand in…

By: sewing

sewing — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:22:54 +0000

If that’s the case, Sanshinseon, maybe some of us have already benefitted from changes you had a had in, without even realizing it. Keep up the good work.

By: sanshinseon

sanshinseon — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:35:59 +0000

Ramping-up Korea’s mountain-cultural tourism (with solving some of the above-mentioned problems) is exactly what i work on, most of every day… Perhaps someday there will be some positive results.

By: pawikirogi

pawikirogi — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:49:00 +0000

thanks, marmot. now i can see dtln was just kidding.

By: manbitesdog

manbitesdog — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:04:47 +0000

part of the problem is warped perceptions about what is attractive about the country for outsiders. take japan for example. recent times heaps of aussies have been coming to hokkaido for snowboarding - not for tea ceremony and chopstick lessons in kyoto.
similarly, the recent australian tourism slogan “where the bloody hell are you?” was a monumental failure. i cant believe the stupidity - its only mildly amusing for australians, its an in joke that nobody else gets - especially once translated into another language.

By: slim

slim — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 04:38:43 +0000

For adventurous Westerners who are too old, fat or timid to bungee jump but still want to cheat death or least live on the edge, how about nights in an old-style yogwan with a fan ON ALL NIGHT?

By: yourbutt

yourbutt — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:49:29 +0000

Yes to everyone. I like it too. Maybe market fusion dog dishes.
I had one in mid invloving a delicious mint (or if you perfer) plume sauce. And, instead of sesame leaf and buchoo, collard greens and seasoned mashed potatoes. Why boil the meat when you can roast or rotisserie it?
And yes China and Japan and Korea should get along better and coordinate tourism industries better. Oh well…

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:30:13 +0000

“A basic issue is language; we need to have shop signs in Korean and English so that foreigners can read it. Hangul is a brilliant language but one no-one else can comprehend.”

Shops catering to tourists ought to have bilingual signs and staff, but ordinary shops and restaurants which see only the occasional foreign tourist do not need to go to the trouble. While dining with friends in a Sokcho restaurant, we noticed a young white man wandering along the sidewalk, alternately peering into an open book and gazing at the restaurant window. We guessed he was looking for a place to eat and invited him in to dine with us. Even if we hadn’t done so, I don’t think that European tourist would have starved to death. Adventure is part of the pleasure of travel.

And BTW, there are many foreigners like myself who can read Korean. It’s foreign TOURISTS who need the bilingual signage. “Foreigner” does not equal “tourist.” Your comment reminds me of a young Korean woman who approached me outside Yonsei’s Foreign Language Institute to ask me to complete a questionnaire about foreign tourists in Korea. I explained to her very nicely in Korean that I was a resident, not a tourist, that most foreigners in the area were residents, not tourists, and if she wanted to interview tourists, she should scout out popular tourist haunts like Gyeongbokkung. She practically ran away from me, apparently because I didn’t follow the script.

And Hangeul is an alphabet, not a language.

By: Hachiko

Hachiko — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:13:47 +0000

The KTO is one of the impediments to attracting tourism in Korea. What are they doing for foreigners, besides trying to take their money through direct management of the Seven Luck Casinos and part of the duty free shops? The KTO needs to focus on the core issues on how to attract tourists and not on money-making ventures that keep their own bacon employed.

A basic issue is language; we need to have shop signs in Korean and English so that foreigners can read it. Hangul is a brilliant language but one no-one else can comprehend.