Culture Ministry hosts events overseas to attract tourists to Korea

Korea is hosting a number of K-culture events overseas, including in India, Germany and Indonesia, to attract more tourists to Korea, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday.

Woo Kwan, a Buddhist monk and chef, runs a temple food cooking tutorial during the Korea Culture & Tourism Festival 2023 in India, which ran from Friday to Sunday. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

Korea is hosting a number of K-culture events overseas, including in India, Germany and Indonesia, to attract more tourists to Korea, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday.

This is part of the Visit Korea Year 2023-2024 campaign, which aims to boost the number of visitors in the country through government-wide efforts like developing travel programs, holding promotional campaigns and organizing K-pop concerts.

The Culture Ministry said India, Germany and Indonesia, in particular, have been seeing a boom in the popularity of Korean cultural products.

The Korea Culture & Tourism Festival 2023 in India marketed Korean food and beauty brands through travel agency Thomas Cook from Friday to Sunday. It also included a cooking tutorial by Woo Kwan, a Buddhist monk and chef.

Some 50,000 K-culture fans participated in the three-day event, the ministry said.

“Your Korea Festival” in Germany ran from Friday to Sunday. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

At the same time, “Your Korea Festival” in Germany introduced outdoor sports that anyone can enjoy in Korea, including rock climbing, biking and trekking, as well as temple stay programs.

It also saw a similar number of visitors.

Starting Thursday and until Sept. 10, many travel programs will be made available for Indonesia’s Korea Culture & Travels Festival 2023, targeting 20,000 visitors.

Visitors make Korean hand fans during “Your Korea Festival” in Germany, which ran from Friday to Sunday. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

"Diversifying the tourism market is essential to Korea in securing a stable tourism demand and establishing a strong presence in the tourism industry," Park Jong-taek, director-general of the Tourism Policy Bureau at the ministry, said.

"During Visit Korea Year 2023-2024, we hope to dynamically market toward other nations, including those in Southeast Asia, to make qualitative leaps in the tourism industry."

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]