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Korea aims to earn $10b from tourism next year

Korea aims to attract 7.5 million inbound travelers and rake in $10 billion in profits next year through a marketing push despite the economic slump, the Korea Tourism Organization said yesterday.

By facilitating the tourism industry, it hopes to help the nation survive the economic crunch and create new jobs, the organization said.

Korea enjoyed relatively prosperous tourism this year, with the tourism deficit volume expected to shrink by half from $100 billion last year.

In a report to President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae on its 2009 plans, KTO explained that the marketing will focus on fostering high-end tourism products such as medical travel.

For this, the organization has cooperated with such corporations as Herbal Life and Amway to bring in 35,000 and 13,000 travelers, respectively.

Medical travel refers to attracting foreign nationals to visit for the purpose of medical treatment that could range from plastic surgery to health checkups.

The tourism organization said it will also take advantage of the weakening won to lure in travelers through expansive campaigns.

To promote domestic travel and support municipal economies, KTO said it will work to replace overseas travel demands, especially among honeymooners and golfers by developing high-quality local tourism packages.

More than 10,000 travel-related signposts will be replaced nationwide, while inventing new ways to promote special local dishes.

The year 2009 will also focus on endorsing "green travel" by developing new travel items connected to the country's four major rivers and other cultural assets. They would also include the demilitarized zone, Suncheon Bay and Upo swamp.

Regions with competitive green travel destinations, meanwhile, will be promoted as part of the "Slow City" movement.

The Slow City movement was started in 1999 in Italy, when the mayors agreed to define the attributes that define a slow city.

Slow cities generally must meet a 54-point charter that outlines the goals of the movement.

Candidate cities must have less than 50,000 residents and be willing to work toward accomplishing such measures as promoting organic agriculture, urban revitalization and historic preservation, among other things.

KTO has established a new team to take charge of green tourism.

To create new tourism-related jobs, the organization said it will vastly expand youth internship programs for various international conferences held in Korea. About 5,000 youths are likely to benefit from the new measure. The organization's overseas offices will also offer employment information at their base countries for job seekers here, it said.

One of the largest investment plans by KTO is creating a tourism complex in Hwawon, Haenam, of South Jeolla Province as well as a resort in Mount Naejang in North Jeolla Province. More than 79 percent of the investment budget for these regions will be enacted within the first half of next year.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced a plan to develop premium tourism content, most of which overlaps with the organization's report to the president.

The Seoul government aims to attract 10 million travelers from overseas, creating value added worth 1 trillion won as well as 390,000 new jobs by 2012. This will enable Korea to become the world's 20th-ranked travel and tourism competitive country by that year, from its current rant of 35, according to the ministry.

By Lee Joo-hee

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