SEOUL, KOREA - The Seoul Metropolitan Government will implement a storytelling concept to five tourist attractions to represent the city of Seoul. After an exclusive interview with Seo Jeong-Hyup, the Director-General of Tourism Policy Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will outline the future plans and ideas to attract more overseas tourists to Seoul, the capital city of Korea.
Seo Jeong-Hyup, the Director-General of Tourism Policy Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, in an exclusive interview with Korea IT Times
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reports 5,000,000 overseas tourists who visited Seoul in 2006 and the figure jumped to 9,200,000 in 2012 (11.6% increase in 5 years). Additionally, among the overseas tourists who visited Korea in 2012, 82.5% (9,200,000) of them made a visit Seoul. Seoul city is commanding much of the attention of the overseas tourists and the figure is on the rise.
What is so special about Seoul, when there are many beautiful cities in the country of Korea each boasting different types of cuisines, landmarks, scenery, ambiance, nightlife and such? Seo said, “The capital city of Seoul has over 2000 years of history, and countless cultural heritages that have been well preserved. Furthermore, within thirty minutes of the city, natural attractions such as mountains and water can be met.” Seo adds, “In Korea, Seoul is the focal point for IT, shopping, fashion, Hallyu culture and more, some of which are recognized as the most advanced in the world. It is a charismatic city that certainly appeals to the tourists.”
Concurrently, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions), noted Seoul as one of five best convention cities in the world, and also chose the city as a best place to hold international business meetings. Seo states, “meeting diverse tourism contents and improved tourist infrastructure, kind guides and services, open minded and welcoming Seoul citizens are all important factors in raising awareness that Seoul is a tourist destination.”
As the number of tourists visiting Seoul surges, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is trying to push ahead numerous tourism policies. A main policy they are pushing forward is the storytelling concept which links a story to a particular region of attraction to make it more informative and appealing to overseas tourists. There are many notable tourist spots that overseas tourists might want to check out when they are in Seoul. But Seoul Metropolitan Government will initially select five representative regions as part of the storytelling concept and then look to spread the tourist attractions to other regions of Seoul. The chosen five spots that will represent Korea’s tourism spots are: Han River, Seoul City Wall, Dongdaemun district, Road of King Sejong, and Hanseong Baekje. On the decision to select these regions, Seo stated, “Excavating hidden stories and implementing the storytelling concept to the five representative regions is in order to solidify the places as a tourist spot. From then on, we plan to spread the tourism spots to all regions of Seoul.” As Seoul does not have a landmark attraction like Paris’s Eifel Tower, the idea of designating representative regions as tourist attractions and by supporting the locations with stories could be more meaningful for the visitors.
The Director-General of Tourism Policy Bureau also spoke on implementing other tourism policies such as, “Providing off and online tourist information in many different languages on the eye level tourists,” and “Operate real-time monitoring of tourist attractions to reduce any inconveniences.” Also, to pile on the numerous policies that will be implemented to accommodate the increase of tourism in the city of Seoul, the government would like to maximize a ripple effect of the tourism on the local economy by preparing not only infrastructure but also a software for visitors to give information on relaxing comfortably, go touring and shopping.”
When Seo was asked to address the marketing plans to attract overseas tourists, he stated, “Looking at tourists who are visiting Seoul, revisiting ratio is high for Japanese tourists, Chinese tourists are very interested in fashion and shopping, visitors from Southeast Asia are interested in Hallyu, and there has been an increase of tourists from English-speaking worlds due to the song ‘Gangnam Style.’ Likewise, tourists who are visiting Seoul, all have different objectives and characteristics, and can be looked at as all having different preferences.”
To market accordingly to fit the preferences of tourists from different regions, Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Tourism Policy Bureau would like to implement the following: Tourists from Japan usually have a high awareness of Seoul, and they are interested in fashion, shopping, and hidden attractions of Seoul rather than the standard tourist attractions. In order to market to this group the tourism policy bureau will “Focus on the using Facebook, Twitter, and other SNS mediums and also hold briefing sessions on sightseeing on major cities,” Seo stated. Furthermore an emphasis will be put on the Greater China Regions (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and the South East Asia. Due to the close proximity of these countries to South Korea, the numbers of tourists from these regions are always increasing and visitors from these regions are keenly interested in the Hallyu culture and shopping. Currently, digital media outlets are being used and on and offline promotions are being enforced. Overseas visitors from North America, Western South Asia and Europe have remained relatively steady over the years but with the rise of Hallyu and especially due to the song ‘Gangnam Style,’ an image of Seoul is slowly spreading. Seo states, “Relevant internet pages are used for information service and tourism magazines are also used for advertorials.” Finally, the market for tourists from Africa, Russia, India, and South America is still relatively small. Seo states, “Continuous tourism information on Korea and Seoul is needed.”
As oversea tourists from different regions differ in their interest to visit Seoul, Seo stated, “It is important to, push ahead with effective and practical marketing to attract tourists.”