Followed by Daegu and Gangwon Province, as resulted in the recent foreigners survey on the preferred local site to visit
Through its multilingual website, the Visit Korea Committee (Chaired by Park Sam-koo) conducted an online survey of foreign visitors to South Korea in an effort to identify their preference on the K-Travel Bus routes, and has released the results.
The survey was conducted during the “Golden Week” around May Day, drawing a total of 3,124 foreigners, whose mother tongues were English (45%), Chinese (47%), and Japanese (8%), and the overwhelming portion was female (94%).
On the English-version of the website, 793 respondents (57%) picked the Southeastern Region (Busan, Ulsan, Southern Gyeongsang Province) as the most coveted K-Travel Bus route, which was following by Deagu (16%) and Gangwon Province (11.4%). On the Chinese-version of the website, the same trend was noticed: the Southeastern Region (51%), Gangwon Province (22%), and Daegu (14%). Meanwhile the Japanese-version showed an evenly divided preference: the Southeastern Region (46.3%) and Daegu (45.9%).
As for the attraction of the Southeastern Region, the no. 1 choice of the respondents was “I wish to visit Busan for delicious seafood and beautiful seashores.” Many foreigners also expressed wishes to experience abundant local festivals and to visit the hometown of their Korean Wave stars. Some answered they want to learn the unique dialect.
In case of Daegu, many foreigners were interested in shopping on the Dongsung-ro street and characterful local food like Makchang (grilled beef entrails). Gangwon Province was associated with the natural environment abundant with sea and mountains ideal for leisure and Namisem Island was also famous among them as the filming site in many TV dramas.
As for Northern Gyeongsang Province, many foreigners were attracted by the desire to learn Korean history; as for Southern Jeolla Province, by the interest in the food and natural environment; as for Tonghyoung, by the convenience of K-Travel Bus to get access to the remote location.
The foreign participants in the English survey were from diverse countries, including France, USA, Brazil, Singapore, and Thailand. An overwhelming portion of the participant pool answered they had begun to have interest in Korea through Korean dramas. Some of them said they were able to get access to the scenic beauty of Korean nature through social medial.
* The K-Travel Bus program has been launched on the occasion of the 2016–2018 Visit Korea Year by a consortium of 8 local governments/agencies. The program is designed to enhance the satisfaction of tourists, who tend to concentrate around Seoul, by directing them to provincial tourism sites and events for Korean cultural experience. The consortium consists of the Visit Korea Committee, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the municipal governments of Seoul, Daegu, Gangwon Province, Southern Jeolla Province, and Northern Gyeongsang Province, and the Southeastern Region Tourism Council (Busan City, Ulsan City, Southern Gyeongsang Province).
Foreign tourists may make reservations for courses and services through the official website (www.k-travelbus.com). Each week K-Travel Bus commutes to 6 regions: Gangwon Province, Daegu, Southern Jeolla Province, Northern Gyeongsang Province, Southeastern region (Busan, Ulsan, Southern Gyeongsang Province) and Tongyoung, which is the tourism site for this Year, to go through the tourism schedules. The price for services ranges from USD 145 to 170, which covers transportation, lodging, foreign-language tour guide, entrance fees, and experience charges.
Hong Si-wan, Seoul