Culture Ministry, Korean culture heads collaborate to boost tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with Korea's beauty and fashion industries, are working to attract 20 million foreign travelers to Korea by the end of next year.

Culture Minister Yu In-chon, left, and Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, who has been appointed as the chairperson of the Visit Korea Committee, participate in a conference with tourism industry insiders at The House of Sulwhasoo, the cosmetic brand's flagship store in Bukchon of Jongno District, central Seoul. [NEWS1]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea’s beauty and fashion industries are putting their heads together to attract 20 million foreign travelers to Korea by the end of next year.

Culture Minister Yu In-chon met with K-beauty, fashion, medicine and dance industry insiders on Monday at The House of Sulwhasoo, the cosmetic brand’s flagship store in Bukchon of Jongno District, central Seoul. Participants included Lee Boo-jin, the CEO of Hotel Shilla, who has been appointed as the chairperson of the Visit Korea Committee, a public-private organization leading the government’s Visit Korea Year campaign; Kim Seung-hwan, CEO of Amore Pacific Group; Yim Hae-min, Creatrip CEO; Juen Eun-jin, managing director of jennyhouse; Timon Youn, 1Million Dance Studio’s co-CEO; and Choi Jung-hee, head of Andersson Bell, among others.

“I think those working in the field will probably feel it more, but the level of interest and knowledge foreign tourists have about Korea is changing day by day,” Lee said, adding that it’s great to see how the spectrum of Korea’s tourism industry has broadened so much. “We will make sure to hold more gatherings of such to communicate and find ways to collaborate with different industries.”

Though Koreans are witnessing more and more foreign travelers in different parts of the peninsula post-Covid, Yu said the statistics show that there are more outbound than inbound travelers, meaning that more Koreans are leaving the country to travel than there are people coming in.

“This means the tourism industry itself is looking at deficits,” Yu said. “As of September, about 7.5 million foreign travelers visited Korea. I was at the National Assembly and declared fearlessly that the Culture Ministry will attract a total of 20 million by the end of next year. If we work together, I am sure we can reach that goal.”

After analyzing results from a survey conducted by the country’s tourism board on foreign travelers and their reasons for visiting Korea, the most common responses that sit at the top of the list every year, according to Yu, have been “shopping, K-pop, K-beauty and fashion — in other words, things that are very closely related to our lives.”

“Even though we knew that they were important, we’ve somewhat neglected it,” he added. “I think it’s time to give more attention to those industries and think about how the government can support a boost in tourism.”

Last December, the Culture Ministry designated the years 2023 and 2024 as Visit Korea Year, and set a goal of attracting a cumulative 30 million tourists by 2027.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]