"Attracting US Travelers" Promoting Korean Tourism in New York, Chicago, and LA

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] A large-scale tourism event was held at Grand Central Station in Manhattan, New York, and other locations to promote Korea to Americans planning "revenge travel" after COVID-19.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 23rd (local time) that they will hold the "Discover Your Korea" event, promoting Korea as a travel destination for Americans, in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles (LA) to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Korea-US diplomatic relations.

This event is divided into a Korean culture and tourism festival for general travel consumers and a business consultation meeting for developing new inbound travel products between the Korean and American travel industries.

First, the Korean Culture and Tourism Festival held in New York on the 22nd and 23rd will take place at Grand Central Station, where BTS performed in 2020, and the representative tourist attraction Times Square.

Local governments such as Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, along with the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism’s Korean Buddhist Cultural Business Group, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), Kukkiwon, and others will directly operate themed Korean culture and tourism promotion booths centered on Hallyu contents such as K-food, K-pop, K-beauty, K-drama, and Taekwondo. Through this, they will provide opportunities for experiencing Korean culture and travel consultations.

In particular, Alexa, the winner of NBC’s "American Song Contest," will make a special appearance to introduce K-pop culture. At Times Square, a symbol of New York and a must-visit spot for tourists worldwide, a performance by the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration team is also scheduled.

The B2B (business-to-business) event held on the 23rd in Manhattan, New York, is prepared for 350 local travel industry professionals and journalists. Monk Jung Kwan, who appeared on the Netflix food documentary "Chef’s Table" and was highly praised as the "Philosopher Chef" by The New York Times, will personally introduce traditional Korean temple cuisine. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization plan to invite American travel agencies specializing in vegan travel products to highlight that temple cuisine is the most suitable food for vegans.

On the 25th and 26th, briefing sessions promoting Korea’s tourism appeal will be held consecutively in LA and Chicago. The Korea Tourism Organization stated that through business consultations involving major Korean and American wholesale travel agencies, various new inbound travel products centered on the new normal theme, including Korean Buddhist cultural experiences, are expected to be developed.

This large-scale tourism promotion event was prepared to position Korea as a representative tourist destination amid Americans actively engaging in revenge travel following the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns. As of 2019, the outbound travel volume from the US was 171 million, ranking first worldwide. In June of this year, 55,444 Americans visited Korea, accounting for 24.3% of all inbound tourists in June. Recently, in the US, the popularity of K-pop and K-drama has also increased favorable sentiment toward Hallyu.

Accordingly, the Korea Tourism Organization has set the core target for Korean tourism in the US as the 30s and 40s age group interested in Hallyu and is conducting precise "target marketing" for them, while simultaneously leveraging delays in developing the Chinese tourism market to attract Asian travel demand to Korea. Park Jae-seok, head of the Korea Tourism Organization’s New York office, stated, “We will introduce ‘real experiences’ that can only be experienced in Korea, such as Korean Buddhist cultural experiences, health and gourmet tours, architectural tours, and nature-friendly outdoor activities, to the US market, so that Korea can establish itself as the number one tourism destination in the Asia region.”

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