By the end of the Korean War, in 1953, many economic experts predicted that it would take more than a century for the divided peninsula to recover from the disastrous after-effects of the war. Nevertheless, South Korea has accomplished a successful journey that is close to a miracle in recuperating and has established itself as one of the leading countries in Asia. Today, South Korea boasts a great number of tourists as many foreigners are taking more interest in exploring the land and culture of the country. Despite the spotlight, it has been noted that while South Korea has much potential, there still remains room for improvement to show the beauty of the peninsula.
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| ▲ Seoul at night. Image provided by hdwallpapersarena.com | ||
Tourism can be a vital part of a country. It has not only positive economic effects, but also positive social effects. Revenues resulting from tourism can amount to great sums that the national economy can come to depend on it. Countries such as Spain earn huge amounts of revenue each year, which is approximately 53billion dollars, resulting from travelers wanting to view its splendorous sights. In addition, tourism helps the local communities improve through the development of infrastructure and the preservation of traditions.
Although South Korea is not marked as one of the major locations for tourism, current statistics tell us that many travelers increasingly want to visit the sites of Korea. According to Korean Tourism Organization (KTO), Korea recorded 1,010,809 tourists visiting in May 2013 alone from all over the world. This is a ten percent increase to last year’s number. Professor Lawrence Bendle (Kyung Hee University, Tourism Management) said, “The statistics show that there has been a growth in inbound tourism especially over the past five years in particular. This is a credit to KTO which is working proactively to increase and stabilize Korean inbound tourism.”
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| ▲ Big Bang, one of the most popular Korean Idols. Image provided by k-popgalleries.com | ||
Professor Bendle added, “There may be different reasons for Chinese to come to Seoul compared with those of Japanese visitors. However, generalizing, the attraction for foreign visitors is to come and see what Korea is all about. Korea has come on an interesting journey, and I think people are curious about a country that has developed successfully in such a short period of time. In terms of politics, economics, and society, other people see Korea’s achievements and future in a very positive way.”
South Korea’s Greatest Attractions
One of the major attractions of Korea is its capital, Seoul. While having the most concentrated population in the country, it also possesses some of the major historical attractions, such as the Gyeongbok Palace and the War Memorial of Korea. “I thought that the palaces were interesting, especially the architecture, but I was also interested by the War Memorial as I have a minor in history, and the Korean War is part of the United Kingdom’s (UK) history,” said Oliver Chapman, a KU exchange student from England. “I think that the tourism system is very easy for foreigners. It was helpful that all the subway signs and information are also in English, like the road signs. Perhaps the only thing I found inconvenient was the toilet facilities, which sometimes were squat toilets, and we don’t have them in the UK!”
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▲ Gyeongbok Palace Amisan. Photographed by Kim Hak Young
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Another major attraction of Korea is Jeju Island, which is a self-governing province. Jeju Island is very special for its environmental tour sights including volcanic islands and lava tubes. Because of its ecological sceneries, including. Halla Mountain, Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak, and the Geomunoreum Lava Tube System, this island was selected as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organizations) in 2007. Jinston Chung (’12, International Studies), who has visited Jeju Island six times, said, “I especially liked the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak because of its spectacular views of the sunrise and sunset.”
Apart from the great destinations, people noted their fascination with the country itself. “Korea is very ‘Korean’, and this is what is the most interesting about the country. Its people, culture, social values, and attitudes—the idiosyncrasies of Korea.” He goes on to say that Korea is a mononationalities culture which is unique when compared to other countries such as Australia, which has over 100 natuionalities. It is a mono-culture, so it is very distinctive when compared with other countries such as Australia, where there are over 100 nationalities. Also, it is a stable social democracy and econimic powerhouse. “It is approachable for other Asian peoples because it does not have an imperialist past. So, Korea has a fabulous success story to tell. But it doesn’t have to shout,” observed professor Bendle.
Influence of Hallyu
The influence of Korean pop culture, Hallyu, has not only placed South Korea in the limelight of Asia, but also has attracted thousands of fans to come to admire their pop stars and celebrities. As a result of Hallyu, the number of visitors from China, Japan and other countries in South East Asia has greatly increased. Raichel Lu (27, Taichung), is a zealous fan of Big Bang, a Korean idol group consisting of five male members, and has visited Korea six times over past eight years. From their debut in 2006, Big Bang has released many singles including “Lies”, “Last Farewell”, and “Monster”, most of which have gained them enormous fame from all over the world as well as within Korea. Lu said, “The first time I came to Korea was in 2005. After finding out about Big Bang in 2007, I visited Korea in order to see them. This March I came to Korea when one of its members, G-Dragon, had a soloconcert.” Despite her fervent passions, Lu said that there were inconveniences whenever she visited Korea. “Sometimes it is hard for tourists to find certain locations and there are some local Korean people, such as the taxi drivers, who take advantage of tourists and overcharge us.”
Certainly, there is progress, albeit slow, being made so as to accommodate these ardent tourists. SM Entertainment, an agency representing the most popular K-pop artists such as Super Junior and Girl’s Generation, has established a branch called SM Culture & Content (SM C&C). This agency is distinct in that it specializes in selling travel packages to foreigners. Last year, when SM held a concert consisting of all the artists, SM C&C sold special tickets for foreigners throughout 25 countries. The travel package included accommodations, concert tickets and a special exhibition, the SM Art Exhibition, and meals. It also provided visitors with programs to experience Korean culture in person, where they were given opportunities to put on the traditional Korean clothes, Hanbok, and visit the Korean–style–house village in Namsan.
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| ▲ An advertisement for a plastic surgery hospital in Korea. Image provided by grandplasticsurgerykorea.blogspot.kr. | ||
Attraction of Cosmetic Surgery
Medical purposes are another reason for which people come to Korea. Out of all the medical services in South Korea, enhancement surgery is the best known. According to a Trend Monitor survey that appeared in a report from The Economist Online in 2009, one in every five women had undergone some type of surgery in South Korea. Without being said, this country stands as the representative in Asia that excels in plastic surgery. “I think that there are more foreigners coming to Korea for plastic surgery and other medical reasons than for tourism and sight-seeing. I have no doubt that South Korea is the pioneer of this area in East Asia,” says Choi Sujin (23, Geumcheon District), who is currently employed at Hana Tour, a travel agency in Korea.
Hooked, then Lost
Korea is entering the spotlight as a potential international tourist destination, thanks to Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and the second wave of K-pop. Korean tourism has achieved rapid growth in terms of the number of tourists, higher than any other country. About a million foreigners visited Korea in 1978, and that number rose to 2.3 million in 1988 when Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics. This year, KTO estimates the Korea will attract 11 million tourists in overall. Korea’s tourism industry, however, has still a long way to go. It faces challenges and needs improvement in both its hardware and software.
Hardware: Infrastructure
Hardware comes first and on top of it comes software. There need to be places for people to sleep; that is why the industry needs hardware as a basic condition. However, Korea is not equipped with sufficient infrastructure. The reality is that Korea is underdeveloped in terms of tourism infrastructure.
“Korea lacks hotel rooms. This is a huge problem! All other major cities have more hotel rooms than Seoul. If 80 percent of tourists want to spend their time in Seoul, only 40 percent get to sleep there. Others have to go to Suwon, Pyeongtaek, or Cheonan. This a major handicap because it is difficult to create hotel rooms overnight,” said Choi.
Currently, there are only 28,046 hotel rooms available in Seoul while there is demand for 36,379. Considering that the number of foreign tourists increased by nearly 20 percent this year compared with last, Seoul will need 31,172 additional hotel rooms by 2015 to accommodate more visitors.
Moreover, Korea does not have enough convention and exhibition facilities. All of the convention center spaces in Korea combined are about half the size of those in Europe. While the country only has 250,000 square meters of convention space, a city like Hanover in Germany, with 200,000, inhabitants has 400,000 square meters of convention space. For the tourism industry to really take off, it needs to rapidly expand infrastructure and focus national energy into building the industry.
Software: Low Quality and Content
Unfortunately, the country does not have much to offer to visitors other than shopping. Tourist attractions such as Insa-dong, Myeong-dong, and Namdaemun Market have remained the same for decades—insufficient to attract repeat visitors. That means there are few reasons for foreign tourists to return. In fact, seven out of ten foreign tourists last year said they intended to visit Korea again, but few of them return, according to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI). For instance, 43.7 percent of tourists were second-time visitors in 2009, and 39.2 percent in 2011.
Professor Lee Hun (Hanyang University, Tourism) said, “Korea has achieved rapid growth in quantity, but it is hard to say that it has succeeded in enhancing quality. Consequently, we have now come to a stage where we should think about turning quantitative growth into a qualitative one.” Professor Lee also suggested that Korea should offer more cultural content in addition to sightseeing-oriented tour courses so it can induce foreign tourists to visit again.
Currently, Korea’s major tour agencies all offer similar packages, typically including the Gyeongbok Palace, the National Folk Museum of Korea, and Insa-dong, once an area of fine antique shops that are now full of cheap souvenirs and cosmetics.
The standard itineraries at Cosmojin Tour, which specializes in foreign VIP visitors, are not that different from those of other agencies. Palaces and long-running nonverbal performances such as “Nanta” are what cash-rich, but time-poor important guests take in.
“Think about it. A tour guide keeps telling you how Korean foods are nutritious and healthy. But if you could have a chance to learn how to make local food during your stay, it could make a huge difference,” says Bae Ji Hyon (’12, Sociology), who is a member of the Korea University Buddy Association (KUBA). “From my experience, most of the tour programs are quite stereotypical and lacking in creativity and originality.”
Another problem is that some travel agencies sell cheap, low-quality tour packages, particularly to Chinese tourists, and as well hire unlicensed tour guides. These have tarnished Korea’s image among foreign visitors. The government needs to crack down on unlicensed tour guides and travel agencies. At the same time, it has to nurture people capable of offering high-quality services to foreign visitors.
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| ▲ Professor Bendle from Kyung Hee University. Photographed by Choi Ji Won | ||
Tourism, a New Cash Cow
“Since 20 years ago, all of the national energy has been focused on developing the Information Technology (IT) industry. KTO and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourisms’s (MCST) combined budget for tourism this year was less than one trillion won, which is less than 0.3 percent of the national budget. But tourism contributes 5.3 percent of GDP and seven percent in job creation,” said Professor Kim Do Young (Hanyang Women’s University, International Tourism).
Up until now, Koreans have rarely held a high-tech image with regards to tourism; to them it is still low-tech. That is why there needs to be a sophisticated tourism culture in Korea. Time will help, but there still needs to be effort in preaching, convincing, and educating people about the potential of tourism industry.
Back in the old days when everything was focused on building the economy, preserving cultural assets was less prioritized. That is why tourisms had been looked down upon until the present and much of it has been focused on entertainment, not learning. But to enable people to experience Korean history, culture, and philosophy, more efforts should be put in utilizing the cultural assets.
Professor Kim emphasized, “The government should do more to transform the tourism industry into the next cash cow for the Asia’s fourth largest economy.” In particular, there should be advancement in the working environment for those who work in the tourism industry. Even though the industry has infinite potential, since tourism is not a “high-status” industry in Korea, it seems to be much more desirable to work for Samsung—even if you just fetch the coffee. Increasing both its appeal to prospective employees and its inherent status is important. Tourism companies would then be able to choose their employees from a wider range of hopefuls, allowing them to select more intelligent and more capable staff. Corporations would be able to employ staff members who are better at speaking foreign languages. More languages, spoken better, and more capable staff, who are more enthusiastic about what they do, will almost certainly lead to a better experience for tourists in Korea.
What is more, we need to promote regional tourism among Korea, Japan, and China, as has been achieved in the European Union (EU). It is important to create an environment where Korea and Japan maintain mutual exchanges, regardless of political and diplomatic situations,” he added.
Time to Think Outside the Box
Korean promoters should overcome the “ethnocentric myopia”. That is, Koreans tend not to know what foreigners like about Korea and, worse, do not know that they do not acknowledge this. With more diverse groups of foreigners coming to Korea, some prefer creative tours to simple standard sightseeing. Experts in the tourism industry say that Korea needs destinations with stories to achieve sustainable growth in tourism, which means that ideas are required if we really want to captivate foreign tourists.
“If Korea wants to mature as a tourist destination, it has to pay attention to the current trend,” says Choi Kyung-Eun, a researcher at KCTI. “People are used to looking around at sightseeing places and taking photos. Nowadays, everyone leaves on a trip wanting to do something more than just looking.”
Conventions are new methods that greatly contribute to the improvement of international payments, economic activation, and establishment of status of the host region. So it has become a new high-value-added industry. Each country hosts conventions with a national flavor as they are expected to affect their economic, political, and social aspects, as well as cultural tourism. The aim of international conventions is not only at the holding of the convention itself; it possesses a secondary objective. Therefore, participants in international conventions are regarded as “double-aimed” tourists in the tourism industry. Holding international conventions influences the tourism industry through the invitation of many tourists, the extension of their stay, and answering to the problem of decreasing numbers of tourists during off-season. Korea is now humming with huge conventions such as 2012 Yeosu Expo and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. If Korea develops conventions strategically and consistently, hosting conventions will make the future of the Korean tourism industry bright.
The casino industry can also be considered as an effective tool for attracting foreign tourists. Since casinos are a high value-added business, there is potential to nurture the industry as a magnet for foreign tourists. Currently, Gangwon province has the only casino where Koreans can gamble. Choi said, “I think it is okay to build more casinos only offering service to non-Koreans. But the problem is that no international casino operators are willing to invest here unless Koreans are admitted. But I do not think Korea is ready to do so yet, because it will bring more social problems like gambling in the Korean society.” While countries like Singapore and Macau have successfully developed the casino industry into a new tourist attraction and have not led to significant social problems, “it will create serious problems here. We are not ready and need more time,” she added.
Still an Ongoing Process
There is no doubt that this peninsula has much to offer. From beautiful tour sights to major conventions, South Korea has the latency to fascinate many more visitors from abroad. However, it seems that there lacks strong support from the government as well as from the citizens to make it appeal to the rest of the world. “One of the underlying issues is that there are not many well-known signature destinations in South Korea. There aren’t many reasons for visitors to go outside of Seoul as there are no internationally famous natural or manmade features to see,” said Professor Bendle.
South Korea is still developing itself as a tourist destination and it is an ongoing process. Fortunately, Korea has a very progressive tourism organization and it seems to identify many issues, positive and negative, and act quickly on them; it is still learning international tourism. Professor Bendle said, “Step by step, Korea is being seen as a fascinating place to visit. It’s not Hawaii, France, or Thailand, but I am positive Korea has a bright future as an internatinal tourist destination.”