SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – MBC every1’s hit show Welcome, First Time in Korea?’s ratings hit a record high with the latest episodes featuring Finnish panel members, and viewers are expressing interest in the Nordic country following the program’s success. The latest episode of the variety show garnered an audience of 5 percent, according to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean hotel chains are targeting Southeast Asian countries to bypass tough competition at home and take advantage of the region’s fast-growing economy, industry watchers said Sunday. Industry watchers said Southeast Asia is an attractive market for local hotel chains as South Koreans also frequently visit the region for [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — China’s economic retaliation against South Korea is estimated to have led to some 7.5 trillion won (US$6.8 billion) in losses for the country’s tourism industry, data showed Sunday. According to the data compiled by the National Assembly’s Budget Office, South Korea’s tourism and accommodation industries suffered a sharp decrease [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retail giant Lotte Group said Friday that it has purchased a hotel and farm in Russia as it seeks to tap deeper into the overseas markets. Hotel Lotte, the lodging and accommodation arm of South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate with sprawling businesses in food, retail and construction, bought [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Most of the South Korean travelers stranded by a volcanic eruption in Bali, Indonesia, have been safely brought home, the foreign ministry said Friday. A chartered Asiana Airlines passenger carrier, which the South Korean foreign ministry sent to Juanda International Airport near Indonesia’s Surabaya on Thursday, landed back at [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of inbound visitors to South Korea is expected to decline more than 23 percent in 2017 after a sharp drop in Chinese visitors following the U.S. missile defense system deployment row, the country’s tourism promotion agency said Tuesday. The number of foreigners who visited South Korea from [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Premium economy class airline tickets have proved popular among South Korean travelers this year. Sales of premium economy seats, which slot between business and economy class, grew 67 percent on-year between January and October, according to data from flight-booking website Skyscanner. While sales of business and economy seats also [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – New data from Mastercard has revealed that Seoul is the 7th most visited city by international tourists in the world. The Korea Tourism Organization announced on Sunday that Seoul ranked 7th in terms of visits by foreign tourists in 2016, citing the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index 2017. The South [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Local carrier Asiana Airlines said Thursday it will begin a hybrid beacon service to guide its passengers from the moment of arrival at the airport to final boarding. The service will be available to those who purchase tickets through the company’s mobile app and accept the terms of use [...]
SEJONG, Nov. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s corporate watchdog said Tuesday that it had foreign online travel agencies revise their unfair refund policies. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it has looked into provisions and clauses of four firms — Agoda, Booking.com, Hotels.com and Expedia — and discovered unfair terms that restrict the cancellation [...]