Korea could soon see shift in incentive tourism sector

Описание: 중국 포상 관광 급감... 반면 동남아 관광객 수요 증가

Korea is bracing for a decline in the number of Chinese travelers on incentive tours, who could stay away... over growing concerns about the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system.
According to our Oh Soo-young, the spillover effect could hit Seoul's tourism sector hard.

Feasts of chicken and beer inspired by the popular Korean drama "My Love from the Star" have been a hit with Chinese companies bringing massive numbers of employees to Korea as part of incentive holiday packages.
But with an anticipated decline in the number of Chinese incentive tourists on the horizon, "chimaek" parties on the same scale could soon be on hold.

Some 130-thousand employees of Chinese corporations visited Korea last year, often thousands at a time,... making up roughly 60 percent of Korea's incentive tourism industry.
However, the Korea Tourism Organization says that with Beijing's opposition to Seoul's decision to deploy an American missile defense system on its soil, the resulting fallout is likely to wipe out the number of incentive tourists from China by 20 percent from last year.
At the same time, however, the number of incentive tourists from Southeast Asian countries is expected to grow to 160-thousand this year -- a 20 percent increase from 2016.
Some 11-hundred employees from an Indonesian cosmetics giant are making a visit this month,... and in March, upwards of 800 incentive tourists from a Singaporean nutrition company will vacation in Korea.
To accommodate the recent change in tourism dynamics, Korea is looking to diversify its incentive holiday programs by shifting away from the kinds of mega-scale events that were designed for large groups of Chinese clients.
The KTO said it will work to develop distinctive marketing strategies and customized programs to attract tourists from Southeast Asia, Japan, the Middle East and the Americas.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.


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