Korea seeks to attract Middle Eastern tourists

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Lifestyle

Sat, September 23, 2023 | 05:57

Travel & Food

Korea seeks to attract Middle Eastern tourists

Posted : 2023-04-06 17:09

Updated : 2023-04-07 10:31

A traditional Qatari wooden Dhow boat sails along Doha's Corniche, a waterfront promenade in Doha Bay, Qatar, Nov. 12, 2022. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Lee Hae-rin

The Korean government and the private sector have set their sights on tourists from the Middle East by tapping the popularity of Korean culture in the region, according to the culture ministry, Thursday.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a meeting in Seoul, Wednesday, with the taskforce devoted to activating exchanges with the Middle East to discuss how to expand the country's presence in the region.

The ministry launched the taskforce in January in response to growing interest in Korean culture and rising demand for travel to Korea there. It consists of Middle Eastern market specialists, companies that have entered the Arab world and government officials.

Wednesday's meeting was held to prepare for the Korea-Arab exchanges expected to resume in full swing when the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ends on April 21, the ministry said.

During the meeting, company officials shared the difficulties they have experienced while entering the Middle Eastern market and unanimously called for the government to utilize the Arab world's strong interest in the rising global demand for Korean pop culture.

Korean government officials and tourism and content company officials with experience in the Middle Eastern market hold a taskforce meeting to discuss public-private joint initiatives to promote exchanges between Korea and the Arab world at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

According to the culture ministry's latest report released in March on global Korean cultural trends, Arab respondents (900 from Saudi Arabia and 800 from the United Arab Emirates) showed a high affinity for Korea after experiencing Korean culture in a survey with 25,000 foreign nationals from 26 countries.

An overwhelming 81.6 and 72.1 percent, respectively, responded that their perceptions of Korea became more positive after contact with Korean culture. The UAE was the third-highest after Vietnam (85 percent) and India (74.3 percent).

"Korean dramas had been well received in the Arab world because most Korean drama themes (social, historical and familial) appeal to Arab viewers," Mohamed Elaskary, an Egyptian faculty member at the Arabic Department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies who lived in Korea for 10 years told The Korea Times, Thursday. "In addition, the lack of nudity in these dramas as opposed to that of Western dramas made them more appealing to Arab viewers."

Also, 75 percent and 66.4 percent of respondents from UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively, said their exposure to Korean cultural content affects their purchase of Korean products and services, the survey showed.

Along with the growing popularity of Korean culture in the Middle East, the number of Arab travelers visiting Korea has also been increasing steadily. In 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, over 252,000 visitors from the Middle East visited Korea, which was a five-fold jump from 2005's 46,714, according to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) statistics.

However, the figure remained a small proportion of the tourism demographic, remaining around slightly less than or over 1 percent out of the total foreign visitors to Korea.

Although its proportion in the tourist population has remained low, the Arabic tourism market is promising, according to Yuk Kyong-eun, the director of KTO's Asia and Middle East Team.

"The Arabic market is considered a high-value market (in tourism), in terms of visitors' duration of stay and consumer patterns in association with Korean culture," Yuk told The Korea Times, Thursday.

To attract travelers from Arab nations to Korea, KTO plans to host several events utilizing the region's popularity in Korean culture, Yuk explained. The KTO will run a K-Travel Week in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE from May 1 to 6 to attract tourists and investment.

In response to the companies' requests during the meeting, the culture ministry said it plans to support the Korean tourism and content industry's entry and settlement in the Middle Eastern market, in association with the government-affiliated organizations' regional offices, such as the UAE business center of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) and the KTO's Dubai branch.

The ministry will expand the supporting organizations' presence in the Middle East as well, by establishing 40 more KOCCA business centers and eight more overseas tourism support centers by 2027. Currently, there are 10 business centers and two tourism support centers.

"The ministry will seek various means to lead the Middle East's interest in Korean content and tourism to … Korean companies' profits and increase in Middle Eastern travelers' visits to Korea," said Jung Hyang-mi, director of the taskforce.

lhr@koreatimes.co.kr