KTO's Susan Lee-Pierce and Lucky Tours' Soon-Cheon Park
Goway's Diane Molzan; Youn Sang-Ki, Culture Tourism Director for Gyeongnam Province; Goway's Bronwyn Hodge & Susan Lee-Pierce from KTO's YTO Office
Sam Sang-Hoon Shim from Daehan Travel, proud winner of one of the lucky draws
Jamal Nasir, Canadian Globetrotters & Henry Nigoghossian, Amazing Journeys enjoy a delicious Korean feast.
Last week a lucky group of agents, airline executives and tour operators specializing in Asia gathered in Thornhill for an Amazing Korea luncheon presentation. Hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Gyeongnam Provincial Government, the event celebrated Visit Korea Year 2012 and focused on Gyeongsangnam-do, an especially lovely part of this vibrant country.
On hand to greet the guests were Youn Sang-Ki, Director of Culture Tourism & Sports Bureau for Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang Province) – who travelled from Korea to be part of the event; N J Park, Korea Tourism Organization’s Director for the Toronto office; Susan Lee-Pierce, Tourism Information Officer and Randy Snape, Marketing Coordinator (who, despite being on crutches, was present to welcome everyone with a friendly smile).
Guests quickly learned that, as Canadians, we’re a little slow off the mark to discover this part of the world. With well over 3 million annual visitors, Japan leads tourism to South Korea, followed by China and even the USA. Despite priding ourselves on our love of all things multicultural, we rank 13th in visitor arrivals, sending only 120,000 visitors annually.
This, however, will surely change as more agents learn about Korea’s many attractions, several of which are located in the southeast of the country, in Gyeongnam. Only 3 hr. away from Seoul by train, this province offers visitors the chance to experience a variety of Korea’s cultural, historical and natural treasures; 9 of which are on CNN’s “Top 50 beautiful places in Korea” list.
As Korea’s 3rd “most beautiful place”, CNN recognized the cultural traditions of a small coastal farming community, Darangee Village in Gachen, Namhae. Home to stunning 108 step terraced rice fields, this community still embraces the traditions of the past and the wisdom of their ancestors.
CNN’s list included a diverse group of attractions: Kyeonghwha Station in Jaihae is known for their exquisite display of springtime cherry blossoms; Upo Marsh – in Changnyeong – is Korea’s largest natural wetland, and home to around 1,500 diverse species of plants and animals and Hapcheon’s Haein Temple, ranked 13th “most beautiful place”, is a famous Buddhist sanctuary, where visitors are encouraged to discover the world’s oldest intact Buddhist canon – the Tripitaka Koreana.
The KTIO team are understandably proud of their national treasures, and clearly, there is an opportunity here for agents – Korea is an up and coming destination, and with so many attractions, excellent accommodation and convenient transport options to choose from, the country should be an easy sell. Agents, airline representatives and tour operators alike came away from the event full of information and delicious Korean food, ready to share their appreciation of this beautiful country. See www.visitkorea.or.kr for more information.
