"To Kim Ha-seong's Country"... Korea Tourism Organization Holds 'Hallyu Tourism Promotion Briefing' in San Diego

Hallyu Influencer Kenji Kumagai Appointed as Ambassador
"Rising Interest in Korea Due to Kim Ha-seong's Performance... Creating Demand for Visits"

On the 25th (local time), the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 29th that it held the Korean Wave Travel Showcase at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar Hotel in San Diego, California, USA.

Honorary Ambassador for Korean Tourism (left in the photo) Kenji Kumagai. (right) Eugene Ho Yoo, Director of Tourism Content Strategy Headquarters. [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

This event was planned as the first 'Korean Wave' themed tourism briefing in the Americas region to actively target the local inbound market by expanding the development of Korean Wave specialized products.

According to statistics from the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of tourists from the Americas visiting Korea in the first half of this year was about 815,000, an increase of more than 27% compared to the previous year. In particular, Brazil and Mexico, emerging markets showing high interest in K-content, saw inbound tourists increase by more than 64% and 52% respectively compared to the previous year.

At the event attended by about 200 representatives from the U.S. travel and airline industries, Korean Wave tourism courses reflecting the latest trends, large-scale K-pop concerts that can be commercialized, as well as vegan tourism, runcation, and templestay?highly popular in the Americas?were introduced.

On this day, Kenji Kumagai, a Korean Wave influencer in the U.S., was appointed as an honorary ambassador for Korean tourism. Kenji is an influencer spreading Korean Wave content such as K-pop, K-drama, and K-fashion, with about 500,000 followers. Through his social media, Kenji recruited groups for inbound tours to Korea departing four times starting in October, and reservations were fully booked within 15 minutes. Next year, he plans to organize Korean Wave exclusive products centered on K-pop and K-drama experience courses and visit Korea a total of 16 times with 24 inbound tour groups each time.

At the KCON LA concert venue, a Korean tourism overseas advertisement featuring NewJeans is being broadcast.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The venue also featured a self-photo booth, personal color diagnosis experience, and a Korean calligraphy experience in collaboration with the Sejong Institute.

Yoo Jin-ho, head of the Tourism Content Strategy Division at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "It is especially meaningful to hold the first Korean Wave tourism briefing in San Diego amid growing interest in Korea fueled by the popularity of player Kim Ha-seong, who is excelling with the MLB San Diego Padres. We will do our best to strengthen cooperation with the local U.S. travel industry based on the Korean Wave and create new inbound demand."

Additionally, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization conducted large-scale Korean tourism promotions in connection with the K-pop concert 'KCON LA 2024,' held over three days from the 26th at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the U.S.

At the concert attended by 120,000 spectators, the Korean tourism promotional video featuring 'NewJeans,' the '2024 Korean Tourism Honorary Ambassadors,' was unveiled, and related events such as stamp card missions and quizzes were held. Furthermore, the Korean tourism mascot Kingdom Friends popup store and AI profile hanbok experience were operated, providing opportunities for indirect Korean tourism experiences and receiving great responses on site.

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