'Winter Sports Mecca' Gangwon, Global Tourism 'Online Marketing'

'Ontact Gangwon' Campaign Conducted in 20 Countries Worldwide
Fostering Winter Tourism Brand

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-chul] Gangwon-do, known as the "City of Winter Festivals" and the "Mecca of Winter Sports," has launched a tourism promotion marketing campaign targeting 20 countries worldwide to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era by linking the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with the upcoming 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.

On the 29th, Gangwon-do announced, "To wish for the successful hosting of the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2024 Winter Youth Olympics and to foster a representative winter tourism brand, we will jointly hold the '2021 Ontact Gangwon Global Snow Campaign' with the Korea Tourism Organization."

Through this campaign, Gangwon-do aims to showcase its year-round charm to winter sports fans and Hallyu fans worldwide who have been exhausted by COVID-19, with a strategy to accelerate the early recovery of the local economy and the tourism industry, including winter sports.

Now in its fourth year, the "Gangwon Snow Festa" is a program attracting foreign tourists by combining Olympic heritage, Hallyu, and the theme of snow. It operates by linking winter festivals in Gangwon-do’s cities and counties with ski resort events and tours.

The slogan of the "2021 Ontact Gangwon Snow Global Campaign" is "Stay Warm, Enjoy Winter, Remember Gangwon." This year, due to the cancellation of winter festivals and restrictions on ski resort operations caused by COVID-19, the campaign is conducted as a global online non-face-to-face event.

The campaign video was pre-recorded with real-time online participation from over 500 people across 20 countries, including overseas travel industry professionals, media, related organizations, Gangwon tourism ambassadors, overseas influencers, and Hallyu fans.

The video features appearances by the Governor of Gangwon-do, the President of the Korea Tourism Organization, the Chairman of the Korea Association of Travel Agents, the Chairman of the Korea Ski Resort Association, the Head of Trip.com Korea, and former figure skater Kwak Min-jung, representing related organizations and the travel industry to welcome overseas ontact participants.

Notably, during the ontact live broadcast (YouTube) with overseas participants, representatives from related overseas travel organizations such as the Chairman of the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA), the Chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), Gangwon tourism ambassadors including Ando Miki (former Japanese national figure skater), and Ryan Bang (Philippine-based broadcaster) participated to deliver hopeful messages for early COVID-19 recovery.

This campaign will be broadcast worldwide on the 31st through online video platforms such as YouTube and Weibo, introducing Gangwon-do’s beautiful four seasons and Hallyu experiences as a single program even to tourists from countries where it does not snow.

A special stage featuring AR (Augmented Reality) technology recreates iconic scenes from new Hallyu dramas and movies filmed in Gangwon-do, such as "Crash Landing on You," "It's Okay to Not Be Okay," and "Goblin," along with an OST performance by an orchestra that combines the beauty and emotion of Gangwon-do depicted in the dramas.

During the Snow Global Campaign period, the province plans to develop products through SNS promotional marketing targeting local tourism industries, including the "Winter Trip Market," a winter inbound tourism briefing session for local tourism businesses, and overseas OTA travel agencies and influencers.

Kim Chang-gyu, Director of the Culture, Tourism, and Sports Bureau of Gangwon-do, stated, "Through this Ontact Gangwon Snow Global Campaign, we will do our best to prepare for the recovery of the post-COVID tourism market by continuously developing and operating products throughout the year so that foreign tourists can visit Gangwon-do anytime in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.