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| Foreign tourists visit the main event center of the 2018 Korea Grand Sale in Dongdaemun, central Seoul. / Courtesy of Visit Korea Committee |
By Kang Seung-woo
Korea Grand Sale is returning for its 10th edition along with unprecedented large-scale promotions including air and hotel fare discounts for foreign tourists.
The annual comprehensive festival of shopping, tourism and culture, co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Visit Korea Committee to encourage more foreigners to visit, exclusively provides them with benefits in various sectors such as flights, accommodation, shopping, entertainment and food.
The 2019 Korea Grand Sale is scheduled for Jan. 17 through Feb. 28 next year in Seoul and major areas nationwide.
"The Korea Grand Sale is not just a simple tourism promotion for the experience of shopping but the experience of various aspects of Korean culture and food," Han Kyung-ah, the secretary-general of the committee, said at a press conference in Seoul, Monday.
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| Han Kyung-ah, the secretary-general of the Visit Korea Committee, speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Visit Korea Committee |
The secretary-general made it clear that the Korea Grand Sale is different from events that are mainly focused on retail sales.
"The Korea Grand Sale provides various deals in shopping, flight tickets, hotels, beauty products, food and entertainment," she said.
This year's event will stretch for 43 days under three main themes: Travel, Taste and Touch. It will feature 30 special benefits that will help foreign tourists save up to 85 percent on purchases, buy-one-get-one (BOGO) offers and free gifts.
According to the committee, more than 800 companies have signed up to participate in the event and the number is still increasing. The 2018 edition earlier this year drew 778 firms, up 48 percent from the previous year.
Jeju Air and Jin Air, the nation's top two budget carriers, will offer up to 80 percent and 85 percent discounts for overseas passengers, respectively, while Asiana Airlines is preparing to offer discounts to those who travel from destinations in Europe and the Americas to Korea during the period. Asiana will also allow passengers to check one additional piece of luggage for free.
Hotel and resort discounts will also vary for foreign visitors.
The Ramada Encore Haeundae in Busan will offer discounts of 70 percent on weekdays and 55 percent on weekends, while Daemyung Resort provides an up to 75 percent discount on weekdays. The Grand InterContinental Hotel will offer a 15 percent discount at its seven food and beverage establishments.
Amusement parks are also participating in the annual festival with Everland and its water park Caribbean Bay, and Lotte World offering 30 percent off their admission fees and respective attractions. Seoul Land will offer a 43 percent discount on its entrance fee.
The nation's duty free shops and casinos are set to give away various promotions.
Participating companies vowed to fully support the event.
"During the Korea Grand Sale, 870 Shinhan Bank branches will offer favorable exchange rates of up to 60 percent," a Shinhan official said during the press conference.
Divided into three themes, the Travel category is focused on promoting local tourism as well as Seoul tours.
To this end, foreigners-only K-Travel buses connecting Seoul with seven regions will provide BOGO deals and EG-shuttle buses for foreign tourists between Seoul and tourist destinations in Gyeonggi Province will offer the same promotion during the event.
The Taste theme is set to offer a cultural experience for foreign visitors through Korean cuisine with various events and promotions.
Over 60 hotel restaurants across the nation will participate in the event to introduce Korean fine dining to foreigners. Plus, there will be a promotion in collaboration with a big data-based restaurant suggestion app and 200 famous restaurants to award the best reply on the app.
As for the Touch theme, the organizer will set up a main event center at Cheonggye Stream Square in central Seoul that will provide various services for visitors such as language interpretation, free wifi and internet, free mobile phone charge and free beverages as well as tour information.
Plus, there will be also free giveaways, including a two-night hotel stay voucher for the 10,000th visitor and shopping gift certificates from wheel of fortune events.
In order to make the Korea Grand Sale more successful, the committee has engaged in global promotions and advertisements. Business presentations and exhibitions have been held in major tourism markets in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam.
In addition, it is going online by promoting the event on social network media such as Facebook, Weibo and YouTube.
