Korea Grand Sale courts tourists with K-pop, gimbap and more

The Korea Grand Sale, which aims to boost tourism during the winter, began Thursday and will offer promotions and K-content experiences until Feb. 29.

Culture Minister Yu In-chon speaks during the Korea Grand Sale 2024 opening ceremony in Jung District, central Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Korea Grand Sale began Thursday with the ambitious goal to attract a steady stream of tourists during the winter offseason.

The annual shopping and tourism festival is collaborating with more than 1,650 brands in industries such as travel, hospitality, shopping, food and beverage to offer promotional events and operate hands-on K-content-related booths through Feb. 29, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's news release on Thursday.

Korea Grand Sale is the first event scheduled under the 2024 Visit Korea campaign, the biggest tourism project by the Culture Ministry that aims to leverage K-culture to attract visitors to the country through events, travel packages and promotional campaigns. A total of 17.8 billion won has been allocated to the Visit Korea Year campaign in 2024, according to an earlier news release from the ministry.

The theme of this year's grand sale is “Your Special Moment in Korea.”

Promotions include discounts of up to 91 percent on international flights to Korea from nine airlines, up to 80 percent on various luxury hotel packages and other discounts and coupons for offline shopping at Korea's department stores and duty-free shops.

Tourists can also experience Korean culture by learning K-pop dances with studio 1Million, making gimbap with processed food company Ottogi or cooking chicken sauce with fried chicken franchise Kyochon F&B.

Food and beverage discounts are available for foreign visitors to Gangwon for the upcoming Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, slated to begin on Jan. 19.

Additional events outside of Seoul include travel discounts in Daegu available through the Daegu Trip app, discounts and gifts at Incheon’s wellness-related tourist spots including the five-star Paradise City’s spa and 50 percent off Ulsan’s city tour bus.

“We hope that many foreigners come to Korea for the Korea Grand Sale to shop as well as experience attractive K-culture events and make special memories,” Culture Minister Yu In-chon said during Korea Grand Sale 2024's opening ceremony in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. “Through this event, we will kick-start our goal of attaining 20 million inbound visitors this year.”

Details on the discounts and promotional events of Korea’s Grand Sale can be found on its official website or at the Korea Grand Sale Welcome Center set up in tourist-filled neighborhoods like Myeong-dong, central Seoul; Hongdae, western Seoul; and Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]