Korean Wave Content Ignited Taiwanese Consumers' Desire for Travel to Korea

Participants of the '2021 Hallyu Culture Festival'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Donghyun] The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 19th that it held the '2021 Hallyu Culture Festival' event at a movie theater in downtown Taipei, Taiwan on the 17th.

This event was organized to boost demand for travel to Korea after COVID-19 in Taiwan by promoting Hallyu content such as movies and dramas. About 350 people, including media and general consumers, attended.

The event was planned to coincide with the worldwide release of the movie Seobok, starring Hallyu stars Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum, which had generated high expectations. Before the movie screening, a Hallyu tourism talk show was held, introducing the charm and features of eight tourist sites, including Pohang Igari Beach, a filming location of Seobok, and three drama filming locations selected by audience preference votes on-site, such as Busan Gijang Nahopsan Forest from Kingdom and Pocheon Bidulginang Waterfall from The King. Additionally, attendees enjoyed various Hallyu content, including the K-fashion documentary Next in K-Story, co-planned and produced by the Korea Tourism Organization and Netflix, as well as drama OSTs.

Outside the venue, photo zones themed on dramas like Hotel Del Luna and Itaewon Class were set up, and various consumer events were held, such as giving instant cup noodles featured in Seobok as prizes for taking commemorative photos.

Among the participants, a woman in her 40s named Liao Zhuying, who usually enjoys Korean dramas and variety shows with her mother, said, “Until just before COVID-19, I traveled to Korea with my mother for four consecutive years, but in the past year, I have been easing my longing with Korean dramas and movies. I hope COVID-19 ends soon so I can travel to Korea with my mother.”

Lee Jang, head of the Korea Tourism Organization’s Taipei office, said, “It was a great opportunity to feel the enthusiasm for Hallyu in Taiwan, as the number of applicants was three times the recruitment target within one day of opening applications,” and added, “After COVID-19 stabilizes, we will work harder to promote Korean tourism using various contents such as Hallyu so that Taiwanese consumers choose Korea as their first overseas travel destination.”

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