Jeju on Target in
Attracting Foreign Arrivals

Provincial gov't & industry collaborate on publicity activities tailored to target primary markets

Jeju Island is most likely to achieve a target of attracting 450,000 foreign tourist during this year, an 18.4 percent jump from last year's 379,000, Ko Yong-sam, director general of culture, tourism and sports at Jeju Special Self-governing Province, said.
"As of November 13th, the number of foreign visitors to Jeju Island reached 400,000. Jeju is forecast to achieve the target as an average of 1,300 foreigners are added per day, and more and more foreign tourists are likely to attend Hallyu Expo in Asia tat raised its curtain on November 16th,"he said in an interview with NewsWorld. The following are the excerpts of his interview.
Question: What's the target to attract foreign tourists to visit Jeju and what is your local government doing to achieve the target?
Answer: Jeju Special Self-governing Province has been targeting on attracting about 450,000 foreign tourists during 2006, an 18.4 percent surge from 379,000 foreign arrivals in 2005. To this end, the year 2006 has been designated as "Visit Jeju-Korea"by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The provincial government has taken such steps designed to facilitate foreign arrivals as the expansion of international flight routes, establishment of tourism publicity offices in foreign cities and increase of the number of countries with visa exemptions. It has been put more energy into publicizing Jeju by setting up LED (light-emitting diode) and wide-screen signboards in major international airports and cities as well as placing advertisements on buses, newspapers and broadcasting programs.
Q: What do you think is the reason for an increase in foreign arrivals?
A: Our provincial government and tourism industry have been jointly conducting publicity activities tailored to target such primary markets as Japan and the Chinese sphere encompassing China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. With ICC Jeju taking the initiative, Jeju has been promoting incentive tourist programs for multinational corporations like Bayer's China Conference, an incentive program for Bayer China staff members held from November 12 to 17, international symposiums, international sports competitions, tourist programs for newly-wed couples, golf-related products and city tour programs for transit travelers.
International cruise ships made the rounds from Shanghai, China, Japan and Jeju on a regular basis from July to October, contributing partly to raising the number of foreign arrivals to Jeju. Besides, an increasing number of foreign tourists visit the locations of such popular TV dramas as "Daejanggeum," "All-In"and "Tae Wang Sa Shin Ki,"a historical drama now being shot on Jeju.
Q: Is Jeju on target for attracting foreign arrivals during 2006?
A: As of November 13, the number of foreign visitors to Jeju Island was put at 400,000. Jeju is forecast to achieve the target as an average of 1,300 foreigners are added per day, and more and more foreign tourists are likely to attend Hallyu Expo in Asia tat raised its curtain on November 16, if special things do not happen.
Q: Do you have any plans to increase the number of foreign arrivals?
A: Our provincial government is striving to attract foreign tourists via Hallyu Expo in Asia, a Korean Wave promotion event, and through its participation in an international tourism fair held in Shanghai starting on November 16. It is promoting familiarization tours for inviting travel agency representatives and journalists designed to develop golf-related tour programs targeting nations like Japan and Russia. Jeju is also making strenuous efforts to lay a stable foundation for attracting foreign tourists by making a foray into niche markets like Malaysia and Russia. nw

Ko Yong-sam, director general of culture, tourism and sports at Jeju Special Self-governing Province