Vietnam ranks 8th in tourist arrivals to Korea

November 30, 2017 | 21:55
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With a rapidly increasing inflow of tourists in 2017, Vietnam now ranks 8th in terms of arrivals to Korea, moving up two places since last year.
Vietnam ranks 8th in terms of tourist arrivals to Korea
KTO awarded a local tour agency at the Korea Night and Awards Ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City

As of November 19, Korea welcomed more than 300,000 Vietnamese tourists, signifying an annual rise of 29.9 per cent even without December. The number of Vietnamese tourist arrivals is expected to reach 330,000 in 2017, according to the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) in Vietnam.

MICE tourism (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) also achieved healthy performance. As of November 30, there were over 55,000 MICE tourist arrivals travelling from Vietnam to Korea, up 61.7 per cent against the same period last year.

More tourism products by local agencies have been launched to cater to Vietnamese tourists visiting Korea. Tour agencies like Fiditour, Vietravel, Transviet Travel, TST Tourist, and Saigontourist have rolled out new Korean winter tours to serve the rising demand. KTO works in collaboration with these agencies to develop 15 Korean winter tour products in the price range of VND14-16 million ($617-705).

“2017 is a successful year for Vietnam and Korean tourism. With rapid growth and the 8th ranking, Vietnam presents huge opportunities for the Korean tourism sector,” Jung Chang Wook, director of KTO in Vietnam, said.

He noted that KTO will continue its efforts to develop new and unique products for the Vietnamese market like Hallyu tourism and Korean beauty tourism. The organisation has hosted over 20 seminars to promote Korean tourism in Vietnam, including MICE and medical tours.

In the upcoming time, Korea will issue attractive programmes to lure in Vietnamese tourists during the 2018 Winter Olympics, which is scheduled to take place from February 9 to 25, 2018 in Pyeongchang county. In particular, Vietnamese visitors have been granted visa-free entry through Yangyang International Airport until April 2018.

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By By Thanh Van

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