Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
Positive about the growing number of Indian visitors to Korea, Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) is hopeful of welcoming half a million Indian tourists to the destination within 10 years. Last year around 144,000 Indians visited Korea recording more than 20 per cent growth compared to 2013. KTO is aiming for similar growth numbers this year and is tapping different traveller segments mainly MICE and leisure. As part of its effort to draw more of these traveller segments, KTO recently organised its annual incentive roadshow for MICE travel in Mumbai to push Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island as ideal MICE destinations in the India market. Speaking on this, Byungsung Lee, director, Korea Tourism Organisation in India stated, “Korea is an emerging destination in India as people are slowly exploring newer regions apart from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand. Within 10 years, I expect half a million Indians to visit Korea.”
The annual incentive roadshow was attended by more than 250 MICE travel agents, event planners and corporates. Amongst the exhibitors were two regional tourism boards namely Busan Tourism Organisation (BTO) and Jeju Convention & Visitors Bureau (Jeju CVB). The DMC’s who participated in the road show were US Travel, Jane Tour & DMC, Kim’s Travel Service, Bosuk Tour, Hana Tour, JBT Korea, etc.