A winter tale of Korea

WITH reports of over 28,000 Malaysian tourist arrivals at Incheon Airport in the month of November 2015 alone, it is no wonder that Korea tops the list of countries to visit for most Malaysians.
The country known for its kimchi, PSY and the Samsung brand has much more to offer than just catchy pop music and high-tech gadgets. In 2018, Korea will host the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. This international event comes with huge responsibilities but also serves as a platform for Korea to tell the world of its world-class infrastructure and amazing country.
WINTER OLYMPICS
Cold winds sweeping in from Siberia make winter in Korea very cold. The season runs from December to February, with temperatures falling below -10°C. A record 49cm of snowfall was also recorded.
“The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is a great opportunity for Korea to be a top winter destination in Asia. Thus Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) will be working closely with ski resorts to move on to the next stage,” shared KTO executive vice-president Min Min Hong. The project is organised by KTO in partnership with various ski resorts in the country.
Known as the “Wonderland of Snow”, Gangwon Province boasts the most amount of ski resorts in the country. It is home to three major ski resorts in the province, which are Yongpyong Resort, High 1 Resort and Daemyung Vivaldi Park. All these three resorts will partake in the Winter Olympics to see to the high volume of tourists flocking the country for the major event.
FUN FIESTA
A plethora of festivals will also commemorate the winter season, seeing thousands of people all around the globe coming in to Gangwon Province to witness and be part of the annual winter festival. Those planning to visit Korea for the Winter Olympics are advised not to forget to visit the Viva K-Food Festival as the exceptional event combines both skiing and Korean food to deliver a fun-filled cultural burst of excitement.
Other than skiing, Korea is also famous for its ice and fishing festivals. Expect to catch icefish, build snowmen, try ice sledging or even ice soccer, along with a visit to the scenic mountains that capture the beauty of winter.
In an effort to comply with the high number of Muslim tourists to the country, resorts and restaurants in Korea have taken to provide more halal food and prepare more prayer rooms for convenience.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
According to KTO, recent trends have shown that more and more travellers are opting to travel individually as opposed to joining tour groups for freedom and flexibility reasons. To this, KTO released a “2016 Discover Korea Your Way” campaign last June to attract more Free Individual Travellers (FIT) with transport and tourist attraction rebates. The feedback has been positive.
“The trend in the outbound tourism market in Malaysia has been changing. FIT takes up 72%of the market and has exceeded the Group Inclusive Tour (GIT). Following this trend, KTO would like to target FIT and GIT markets with various marketing strategies. Also, we highly recommend travellers to visit in February instead of November, because we believe this is the best time to experience Korea,” remarked KTO Kuala Lumpur managing director Peter Park Chulhyun.
A special TV series called Winter Experience in Korea is currently on the drawing board. This is aimed at helping to boost tourist arrivals to Korea, especially from Southeast Asia.
To find out more about the “2016 Discover Korea Your Way” campaign and the enthralling winter experience, visit www.visitkorea.com.my