Korea Tourism targets 20 million tourists by 2020
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Korea Tourism Organization has witnessed increased tourism from the Middle East region. Supporting statistics show GCC tourist arrivals in 2011 have increased a 48.9% from 2010, UAE tourist arrivals to Korea were increased 21.5% in 2011 comparing with 2010.
Riding on this growth, Korea Tourism Organization will be making a strong presence at the forthcoming Gasco travel show for the second consecutive year.
Hwang, regional director of KTO Dubai said: “There has been a significant increase in tourists travelling from Abu Dhabi to South Korea and this could be attributed to the growing relations between the two countries. KTO has set three visions for 2020; taking the top spot as the most competitive tourism industry in Asia, attracting 20-million-tourists and increasing the period of domestic travel to 30 days per person. We would like to highlight the segments of medical tourism, islands of Jeju and the Yeosu Expo for the coming summer.”
To achieve these goals, the KTO has improved travel infrastructure to accommodate foreign tourists and performed overseas promotional activities to attract attention of people globally.
The total tourism arrivals in Korea touched 9.79 million in 2011, up from 8,79 million arrivals in 2010. The tourism industry is the thirteenth biggest export item after the semiconductor and ship industries. The annually growing tourism revenue shows the importance of the tourism industry.