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| A screenshot of a video promoting Korea Grand Sale 2021. Hallyu star Eric Nam is acting as a guide to tell stories about the culture and tourism festival for travelers around the world. / Courtesy of Visit Korea Committee |
Annual culture & tourism festival for foreign tourists taking place online
By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with Visit Korea Committee (VKC), is hosting Korea Grand Sale 2021, a culture and tourism festival for travelers from around the world, until Feb. 28.
The Korea Grand Sale, which kicked off Jan. 14 with an online concert of K-pop group Oh My Girl, provides both shows and shopping benefits to attract more tourists from abroad during winter, which is the off-season for the tourism industry.
This year's event is taking place online due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival offers a variety of programs, including online cultural tours around Korea where people can experience and purchase Korean cultural products through smartphones and computers; and special online shopping promotions that offer discounts for Korean beauty, food and fashion products.
Other programs include a social media campaign with a hashtag designed to grab the attention of foreign tourists and encourage them to participate on social media.
Enjoy online tours
Hallyu star Eric Nam acts as a guide for Korea Grand Sale and tell stories about the festival.
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| Poster for Korea Grand Sale 2021 / Courtesy of Visit Korea Committee |
Online classes are also offered, giving foreign tourists opportunities to learn about Korean pop culture and experience other areas of the country from experts in different fields.
Discount coupons will be offered to those who join programs, to make their online tour experience even more enjoyable.
Shopping even from outside Korea
During the Korea Grand Sale event, an online shopping promotion will be offered so that people living outside Korea can purchase popular Korean items on the internet.
A variety of goods including K-pop merchandise that are gaining popularity around the world are being sold at up to a 60-percent discount.
Joint promotion with e-commerce operators such as Gmarket and 11st is making the shopping experience more convenient.
Early bird promotion for trips to Korea
There are also promotions selling Korean tourism programs in collaboration with the tourism industry that has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
These promotions are aimed at encouraging foreigners to choose Korea as the first travel destination after the public health crisis comes to an end.
A range of travel-related companies providing flights, accommodations and cultural activities are offering a wide range of promotions, including special offers for plane tickets to Korea, early-bird promotions, up to 80 percent and an extra 8-percent discount on major hotels, and provincial tourism products as well as special discounts on cultural activities and performances.
#Share_Your_Korea
A social media campaign is also taking place, hoping to encourage travelers around the world to recall the memory of their last trip to Korea by uploading their photos and videos on social media with the hashtag #Share_Your_Korea.
The campaign is designed to attract attention to Korea and consequently make people look forward to traveling to Korea.
Along with this, the "Korea Experience" program is taking place in collaboration with the Korean Culture and Information Service. Foreign influencers living in Korea are joining this program to promote the charm of Korea to people who live overseas.
In cooperation with Google Korea, a global digital marketing education program was held for local companies participating in Korea Grand Sale 2021.
Moreover, in order to actively promote this year's event abroad, advertisements and marketing were strengthened through cooperation with global credit card companies, airlines and duty-free stores as well as the Korea Tourism Organization, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and related organizations.
"The ministry and VKC will promote Korea as a shopping tourism destination with the Korea Grand Sale as a steppingstone, and further enhance Korea's reputation as a travel destination by attracting more foreign tourists after COVID-19," a VKC official said.
