TOKYO, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 780,000 South Koreans traveled to Japan in January, the largest number among foreign visitors to the nation during the month, according to a news report Wednesday. A total of 779,400 South Koreans visited the neighboring country last month, Kyodo News reported, citing data from Japan’s state tourism agency. [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans traveling overseas spent a record amount last year, but spending per person declined, central bank data showed Wednesday. The current account for last year showed travel expenditures of US$31.97 billion, the highest since recordkeeping began in 2006. Past figures show increases from $15 billion in 2009 to [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul government said Tuesday it will offer a vacation subsidy of 250,000 won (US$222) to 2,000 low-income workers this year, as part of an effort to reinvigorate the stagnant local tourism sector. The Seoul metropolitan government will begin accepting applications for the vacation subsidy in March from among [...]
JEJU, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Tourism industry analysts are calling on the government to develop new strategies to meet various demands of South Korean and foreign tourists visiting Jeju Island. Jeju Island and the Jeju Tourism Organization released a status report on Thursday, arguing that Jeju should go beyond its current tourism model in [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to spend over 13 trillion won (US$11.6 billion) over the next decade to expand infrastructure areas that border North Korea, including the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), for closer inter-Korean exchanges, the government said Thursday. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the government’s Border Area Policy [...]
HWACHEON, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival that just ended has become the country’s biggest winter festival by attracting an all-time high number of visitors. The annual ice fishing festival that kicked off on Jan. 5 on a frozen river in the remote county of Hwacheon, about 120 kilometers northeast of [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean duty-free stores saw their sales from Japanese consumers rise sharply on-year in January despite the on-going military tension between the two countries, apparently on the back of the strong Japanese yen, industry sources said Sunday. Sales from Japanese consumers at a Lotte Duty Free shop in Seoul’s [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign tourists have varying tastes when it comes to sightseeing spots in Seoul, depending on their nationality, a research paper showed Friday. Visitors from Asia prefer Myeongdong, one of the capital’s main shopping districts, while European and American tourists are most impressed by royal palaces, according to the paper [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Thirty-year-old fund manager Park Jong-il, who works in the financial district of Yeouido in western Seoul, tees off at his favorite golf course located on the southern resort island of Jeju at least once a week after work. Instead of booking the one-hour flight and possibly reserving a hotel [...]
HWACHEON, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — With the 2019 Hwacheon Sancheoneo (mountain trout) Ice Festival continuing to attract a significant number of visitors every day, both domestic and international agencies are seeking to follow suit. According to Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon Province, officials from the city of Norilsk in Russia will be visiting the festival between [...]