South Korean tours lure more Vietnamese
13:09 04/05/2009

Discount package tours to South Korea are luring a large number of Vietnamese travelers

Tour companies are taking advantage of the growing popularity of Korean movies, TV shows and pop music to promote discount package tours to the East Asian country.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy director of domestic travel giant Saigontourist, said 500 tourists booked tours to South Korea through his company in April, 300 percent more than during all of 2008.

Saigontourist, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and a number of Korean partners teamed up in January to launch budget package tours to South Korea, priced 40 percent lower than normal rates.

Six-day tours to Seoul from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi are down from US$1,600 to $911 per person and four-day tours are down from $1,000 to $699, Saigon Times reported.

South Korea’s tourism sector is focusing on Vietnam as a potential growth market, Hyo Sik Jeon, director of the South Korean Tourism Promotion Office to Asia Pacific, said on Monday at a meeting in Seoul with Vietnamese travel firms, airlines and reporters.

“We will further promote Korean culture to Vietnamese people through motion pictures and performances of Korean art troupes in Vietnam,” Jeon said. “We will join forces with Vietnamese airlines and tour operators to design package tours to attract Vietnamese travelers.”

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South Korea’s tourism sector is focusing on Vietnam as a potential growth market   Hyo Sik Jeon, director of the South Korean Tourism Promotion Office to Asia Pacific

South Korean popular culture already gained a foothold in Vietnam. South Korean television shows, such as “Winter Sonata”, are broadcast with Vietnamese voiceovers and South Korean pop stars, including boy band Dong Ban Shin Ki, have many Vietnamese fans. South Korean fashions and hairstyles are also popular among younger Vietnamese.

Jeon said many South Korean tour operators were working with the Korean department of foreign affairs to speed up visa procedures for Vietnamese tourists.

A number of South Korean tourist attractions have hired Vietnamese staff and tour guides, some of whom are studying in Korea, to cater to Vietnamese tourists.

Some South Korean travel firms offer Vietnamese tourists sightseeing tours to Korean film studios and tours which include beauty care services.

South Korea welcomed some 18,000 Vietnamese tourist arrivals and about 20,000 Korean visited Vietnam last year.

Source : vietnewsonline.vn