South Korea welcomed 88,917 visitors from India by the end of July 2016, an increase of 47.9 per cent, relative to the same period last year. The efforts made by the Korea Tourism Organization, New Delhi office is accredited for the growth. The tourism board’s effort on educating the travel trade partners to promote the destination, the business approach from DMCs and connecting with the end traveller through media platforms are said to have been the key factors in the result.
As the interest of the Indian traveller grows, the increase in the airline connectivity has been introduced. Asiana Airline has increased its operations from three to five times a week from New Delhi and plans to operate daily in the near future. Korean air will be launching its Delhi operations in December with a frequency of five times a week.
Byungsun Lee, director, Korea Tourism Organization, said, “Over 1,50,000 Indians visited South Korea last year and we have almost 90,000 within seven months. So we are confident of surpassing the last year’s numbers by the end of 2016. As we approach the festival season and the winter holiday season, we plan to widen our efforts and establish South Korea as a preferred leisure destination amongst various traveller segments including families, honeymooners and adventure lovers.”
