'K-Culture Popularity' Draws 5,000 Visitors to Korea Pavilion at Berlin International Tourism Expo

Korea Tourism Organization Promotes '2023~2024 Korea Visit Year' at ITB Fair

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 20th that they successfully promoted the '2023~2024 Visit Korea Year' at the Internationale Tourismus B?rse Berlin 2023 (hereinafter ITB Fair) held in Berlin, Germany.

Visitors experiencing Korean calligraphy at the Korea Pavilion of the International Tourism Expo.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

This ITB Fair was held offline for the first time in four years since the pandemic, with approximately 5,500 companies from 161 countries around the world participating, and about 90,000 visitors attending.

The Korea Tourism Organization introduced various themed travel products linked to K-Culture together with 24 domestic public and private institutions at the fair. Targeting the local travel industry, they actively promoted sales through one-on-one business consultations and briefing sessions, achieving sales of over approximately 2.5 billion KRW, surpassing the highest pre-COVID sales (based on consultation performance).

The Korean Pavilion at the fair was bustling daily with diverse visitors, reflecting the high interest in K-Culture. Visitors enjoyed activities such as Korean calligraphy events, trying on hanbok, VR games using the traditional game ‘Mugunghwa Kkoci Pieot Seumnida’ (The Rose of Sharon Has Bloomed), and guidance by autonomous robots. A visitor who experienced the Korean Pavilion said in a local interview, “The sight of autonomous robots wearing gat and hanbok guiding visitors, and the event where a monk personally writes names on fans, were truly impressive and I think it’s a wonderful way to showcase K-Culture.”

Franziska Giffey, the Mayor of Berlin, visited the Korean Pavilion and expressed interest in Korean culture, reflecting the enthusiastic local response. Over 5,000 visitors experienced K-Culture. Recognized for the beauty of the pavilion’s design inspired by hanok, traditional window frames, and saekdong hanbok, as well as the positive response from visitors, the Korean Pavilion was ranked 3rd among the best booths in the Asia-Oceania region category.

At this fair, not only Korean historical site exploration tours preferred by Western travel industries but also products that allow experiencing restaurants and attractions like Koreans received high interest. Additionally, products that let visitors experience Korea’s beautiful nature seen in K-dramas and music videos, including bicycle tours from Seoul to Jeju, attracted significant attention.

A Korea Tourism Organization official stated, “As international tourism has entered a full recovery phase after COVID-19, we were able to confirm the high interest of the global travel industry in Korean tourism at this fair,” adding, “We will continue to carry out comprehensive public-private cooperative joint marketing linked to the '2023~2024 Visit Korea Year' and K-Culture.”

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