South Korea to host K-pop concerts to draw more foreign tourists

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

South Korea’s state-run tourism office said Wednesday it will organize a series of K-pop concerts in the coming weeks in a bid to help attract foreign visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) aims to attain the goal of drawing 16.5 million foreign tourists this year alone, capitalizing on various cultural products related to the Korean Wave, or “hallyu.” The number of foreigners traveling to South Korea stood at 12.7 million as of end-September, according to the KTO.

“We plan to make all-out efforts through the end of this year to attract foreign tourists,” Kwon Byung-jeon, a KTO official, said. “We will also continue efforts next year for the growth of the tourism industry for foreigners in quality by developing new content.”

In the first of the K-pop concert series, boy band SS301 will hold a fan meeting at the Phoenix Park ski resort in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, this weekend. More than 300 foreign visitors are expected to attend the event. Another boy group Supernova, also known as Choshinsung, is scheduled to meet fans in Seoul from Dec. 3-5, followed by a fan meeting here by B1A4 from Dec. 10-12.

The KTO plans to host the events in cooperation with private tour agencies. We will hold such events once or twice a month next year,” Kwon added.

Meanwhile, the KTO plans to support a large K-pop concert in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Nov. 18. The event is meant to help the ancient capital city, hit by an earthquake in September, attract tourists. Among those on stage will be Bangtan Boys, TWICE and SHINee. The KTO is using its overseas branches to publicize the concert.


That's actually pretty cool that they're doing the shows in different cities. Spread that money all around.

KoreaTimes

Comments

[haixiao.livejournal.com]

who's gonna pay for my plane ticket to korea so i can go to these concerts tho

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

Actually, in the article it says "The KTO plans to host the events in cooperation with private tour agencies", so it can turn out to be exclusive to foreign fans. If it's part of a package tour or something like that.

[soyogi.livejournal.com]

if their main method of attracting tourists is to hold general k-pop concerts how are they going to a) make it affordable enough for tourists to be able to go to SK as a trip for the sake of a concert, and b) prevent fans who live in Korea from getting all the tickets? it seems like a short-sighted plan to improve tourism. it's nice that they're hosting it in several cities though.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

i agree op that it's a nice way to show tourists places in korea they wouldn't normally go! i'm curious as to how they're going to organize this? for some reason i'm now imagining tour operating promising the 'hallyu experience' to tourists and seeing tour buses full of kpop fans being driven around to different concerts and kdrama locations..

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

I don't know any more info on this other than the article, but I assume it probably is more of specialty tour experience like you mention. Tour companies can cater to anything tourists could possibly want, and there's definitely money in kpop/kdrama stuff. I saw so many vips (mostly China and Japan) on Twitter and IG who traveled from around Asia just for the Made and 0 to 10 shows.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

interesting! i don't think i would like it but there's definitely a market for it. though i feel korea should watch out with these kind of things. the country should take care not to turn into some sort of hallyu (kpop/kdrama) theme park imo (just speaking from my country's experience)

[meyouthisthat.livejournal.com]

Hmm... ok. I kinda don't really see the appeal. 1-2 concerts per month in different cities around the country? I mean it's a nice idea but I'm not sure they would bring in the numbers they are looking for.

Also, instead of constantly just peddling kpop concerts and kdrama filming locations, why don't they get creative with other stuff too? Like Idk, korean art, korean food tours.

Like I wouldnt come to Korea just to see a kpop concert, but if there was a food tour, i'd definitely go.

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

there is this 'modern han' (모던한/모던韓) thing, they are organizing such events, but it's very expensive and screams elitism
i saw their presentation and wasn't interested at all, so yeah, they definitely need something more to promote traditional culture (there are local festivals, but i doubt that tourists will go to small towns far from seoul for just one event)
right now those who don't speak korean can only rely on foreign bloggers and plan individually when they want something different from standard tours, it seems
also, i can't even imagine how they get around when they leave seoul, i remember my first field trip and if i didn't speak korean to some degree, i'd be in trouble, especially when it comes to accommodation
what's good: free (or veeeery cheap) bus trips for foreigners to get to know the country better, but i'm not sure how easy it is for tourists to get a seat

[meyouthisthat.livejournal.com]

oh my friend showed me that too! but yes it's sooo expensive and ridiculous. =/ and yes they def need to step up in terms of promoting their traditional culture better - music, art, whatever. There's so much about korean culture/history to discover but it's like it's not even accessible if you don't know where to look/don't understand Korean. I know Korea is stepping up in terms of making signs/sites in English to cater to non-Korean speakers, but I feel like it's still not enough. I was back there in early October and they had small festivals celebrating Hangeul Day and another event (cant remb the name now) in Seoul. And I'm like... i don't even know such things existed and only did so cause of my Korean friends. the festivals were super small and none of them had anything in English. I thought it was something they could have made on a larger scale to get outsiders to know more about their culture etc.

it's a real disadvantage if you don't know/speak Korean (which alot of foreigners don't), I feel that you miss out on alot of the very interesting, non-touristy bits of Korea. lots of my friends who dont speak Korean end up not enjoying their trips there. and yes i cant imagine how would they be able to navigate their way around places that are far away from Seoul and where ppl speak less english.

and totally, I dont see a lot of people wanting to travel miles away from seoul for just one or two events.
yours is a good idea but yeah am not sure how are they gonna separate the locals from the foreigners for any of these trips/concerts.

it's just...idk. sometimes i feel like they are pushing so hard for the tourism money and for foreigners to visit etc without really exploring their options and thinking things through properly and for the longer term. lots of things sometimes don't seem well organsied either...and sometimes it does feel like as a foreigner, you are kind of "kept out" of certain things in the culture.

edit: apologies for the essay =O

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

yeah, about modern han: from what they showed us, there was one party where they invited belly dancers to perform with kr traditional music in the background. that looked...weird. and when one person asked them how is it even 'preserving culture', they were like, "well, there are other places where they do that" (meaning museums i guess, but excuse me, didn't government give you this money exactly for that??)
about those buses: it's not my idea, this system already exists, but it actually proves my point - nobody knows about it. i guess, only students use it.

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

(they actually check your visa or alien id before giving out the tickets for these buses, and it's the same for all the things they organize for foreigners, so it's not difficult to separate them from the locals)

[meyouthisthat.livejournal.com]

belly dancing+traditional kr music sounds so weird o.O o well. with all the scandalous stuff going on in the gov and how the culture industry is also involved, i'm not surprised all the funding isn't being spent in a proper way

[scionofawhisper.livejournal.com]

Supernova....? lol, I guess they are appealing to only Japanese fans there. Seems a big weird since they basically seem like a Japanese group...

[bishieaddict.livejournal.com]

I'd go if it was DB5K. but alas...haha still bitter :P

[kyokomurasaki.livejournal.com]

I'm still kind of salty that they had several big kpop concerts when I was there but they didn't announce them far enough in advance for me to plan for them. I know they were talking about doing Korea Grand Sale the same time every year and publicizing it better so more tourists know about it; I think that would help at least a bit. It's also difficult for foreigners to get tickets to Korean concerts/events, especially if you're buying them from abroad. They would have to make that easier or have the concerts as part of a special package in order for it to be more attractive.