- Driving 10 major projects, including holding large-scale events utilizing K-culture throughout the year, developing special local tourism products, operating a welcome week, and marketing with the participation of 113 companies

- Through regular meetings of related organizations such as the MCST, KTO, and the Visit Korea Committee, cooperation and linkages between organizations are strengthened, and synergistic effects are fostered

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister YU In Chon, MCST), together with the Korea Tourism Organization (Acting President SEO Young Choong, KTO) and the Visit Korea Committee (Chairperson LEE Boo Jin, Visit Committee) will showcase Korea’s unique K-culture experience and local tourism enjoyed regionally through the 10 major projects for the “Visit Korea Year 2024.”

Aggressively attracting foreign visitors through large-scale events actively utilizing K-culture

Promotion of “Top 100 K-Culture Tourism Events,” “(tentative name) K-Pop Playground,” “Korea Beauty Festival,” a big scale of “K-Wave Festival,” and “Korea Bucket List”

Starting with selecting “Top 100 K-Culture Tourism Events” and turning them into products, packages are developed for foreign visitors to enjoy a variety of K-Culture, including culture, arts, content, games, sports, and food, in various regions of Korea. These packages are actively promoted in conjunction with “Top 100 K-Culture Tourism Events,” with efforts to translate interest in Korea into actual visits through promotions at major international exhibitions. Utilizing its 32 overseas branches in 22 countries, the Korea Tourism Organization will promote Korea through large-scale exhibitions and arts festivals like “Kiaf SEOUL & Frieze Seoul 2024” and “Welcome Daehakro Festival 2024” to attract high-value tourists. KTO will also take initiatives to attract overseas enthusiasts through events like marathons in Seoul and Gyeongju and cycling tours in Busan and Jeju.

From April to October, nationwide, large-scale events utilizing K-culture will take place. Starting with pop-up stores in Seoul’s HiKR Ground in April, the “K-Pop Playground” will host biweekly K-pop dance events (Random Play Dance) and pop-up stores in major regional tourist sites, such as Jeonju, Gyeongju, etc., from May to October. In June, the “Korea Beauty Festival,” a major promotion to purchase and experience products and services related to “K-beauty,” fashion, beauty, healthcare, and wellness at discounted prices, will take place. In July, an esports festival will showcase tourism programs, such as esports competitions and gaming experiences with esports athletes. Finally, in October, a big scale of “K- Wave(Hallyu) Festival” will be held to boost visits through the fusion of K-culture and tourism.

The “Korea Bucket List” project will run from September to November, targeting over 10,000 foreign visitors who have purchased tickets to Korea, to maintain Korea as an attractive destination beyond the peak summer season. This project helps them enjoy and experience their “bucket list” activities in Korea without burden. Upon analyzing the participants in the first year of the program last year, high participation from Chinese-speaking regions, with preferred benefits including limited edition prepaid transport cards endorsed by campaign ambassadors, vouchers for Korean styling, makeup experiences, and chicken and beer tastings, was observed. This year, the project aims to enhance its appeal by diversifying the experiences related to K-culture based on participant feedback.

Experiencing a Different Korea in Every Corner of the Region:

“Special Regional Tourism Promotion” and the “Invitation Project: Invite You” implemented

Recognizing the concentration of individual tourists in Seoul, the “Special Promotion for Regional Tourism Activation” aims to revitalize regional tourism. This initiative involves partnerships with companies specializing in inbound tourism, focusing on creating and managing unique regional tourism packages for individual travelers arriving in Seoul. From cultural immersions and culinary explorations to nature excursions and extreme sports, the initiative facilitates designing, commercializing, and marketing distinct regional experiences. These specialized tourism packages are then collaboratively marketed and sold through online travel agencies popular among individual international visitors.

The “Invite You Initiative (Korea invites you)” is in operation and designed to bring global enthusiasts of Korea to the country for a firsthand tourism experience, subsequently crafting their stories into engaging content. This May, the initiative will welcome around 30 international guests with unique ties to Korea for a four-night and five-day visit, providing them with tailored tourism programs that highlight the best of what Korea has to offer.

A special welcome created for everyone

“Korea Grand Sale,” “Welcome Week,” and “K-Tourism Cooperation Promotion” held

The “Korea Grand Sale,” from January 11 to February 29, is a premier shopping and cultural tourism event designed to boost foreign tourist visits to Korea during the offseason by offering exclusive benefits across flights, accommodations, shopping, dining, experiences, and convenience services. This year marks a record-breaking engagement with around 1,650 companies participating, offering extensive discounts and exclusive K-content experiences unique to Korea. Notably, the event has seen significant success, with 4 airlines involved in a special promotion, recording sales of around 50,000 tickets and about 1,600 sales of K-content-themed promotional products. Additionally, major duty-free sales have experienced a remarkable increase, soaring up to 300% compared to the same timeframe last year (as of February 1).

To foster a welcoming atmosphere for visitors, “Welcome Weeks” are organized around key travel occasions, offering a warm reception to those arriving in Korea. These events feature information booths at primary international gateways, including Incheon, Gimpo, Jeju, and Gimhae airports, providing multilingual guidance, as well as insights into attractions, transit options, dining, and shopping. Specifically, April’s Welcome Weeks coincide with Japan’s “Golden Week,” and September’s are tailored around China’s National Day, featuring collaborations with private enterprises to equip tourists with a host of benefits and “coupon books” for use during their visit.

The K-Tourism Cooperation Center is a promotion program in which about 113 companies participate. The program encourages participating companies to discover various tourism products and services through collaboration and supports their marketing. The MCST will discover the best collaboration cases to plan and develop convergence tourism products by theme and industry and promote online and offline promotional marketing for each major target market to continuously provide various benefits and things to do for foreign visitors to Korea.

On February 15, the first interagency meeting for the “Visit Korea Year 2024” was held to review the direction of the ten major projects

Meanwhile, the MCST, in collaboration with key partners, including the KTO and the Visit Korea Committee, is dedicated to shaping the “Visit Korea Year 2024” through regular strategic meetings. These sessions are pivotal for evaluating project progress across organizations, thereby enhancing synergy and integration while also crafting and advancing nuanced strategies for tourism in Korea into actionable policies. On February 15 (Thur), the MCST convened its inaugural meeting with stakeholder agencies to review the progress and strategic direction of the top 10 pivotal initiatives underpinning the “Visit Korea Year 2024.”

PARK Jong Taek, Head of the Tourism Export Strategy Promotion Division at the MCST, has announced plans for a more organized and distinctive approach to the “Visit Korea Year 2024” than in previous years, achieved through strategic partnerships with relevant agencies. The aim is to amplify the campaign’s overall impact. Furthermore, the initiative will broaden its outreach through coordinated marketing efforts linking Korean Cultural Centers abroad with the KTO’s international branches and a collaborative promotion with the “Local 100 (Top 100 Local Cultural Attractions)” initiative. This multifaceted strategy not only aims to extend the reach of the “Visit Korea Year 2024” campaign but also ensures ongoing monitoring of international tourist flows into and out of Korea.