In 2023, during the Year of Korean Tourism, efforts will be made to enhance connections between airlines, boost promotional efforts, and encourage tourism exchange activities between Vietnam and Korea.

According to data from Vietnam National Tourism Bureau, South Korea continued to be the largest tourist market in the first seven months of 2023, with nearly 1.9 million tourists (nearly 30% of the total), an increase of 6% compared to the previous month.

According to the KB National Card of South Korea, Vietnam is also one of the top three favorite tourist destinations for Korean tourists in Asia. From January to May 2023, Vietnam’s attractiveness to Korean tourists increased by 163%.

On the other hand, South Korea is also actively promoting Vietnam’s tourism industry, as it is a very important market. In the first six months of 2023, South Korea received 191288 Vietnamese tourists, approximately 70% of the same period in 2019, and the market is actively recovering.

This positive signal is largely due to more active aviation activity. Some international airports in Korea such as Gimhae in Busan and Muan in Jeollanam-do province are operating direct flights to Vietnamese localities such as Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Da Nang and Da Lat. In the coming time, Nghe An tourism industry also plans to open a flight route to Muan. Accordingly, visitors can make a journey to discover Jeollanam-do, combined with visiting Gwangju city. 

Such a positive result is thanks to the policy of loosening regulations on epidemic prevention and improving the visa regime, along with the cooperation and cooperation in regional tourism between the provinces of Korea and Vietnam. comments by Professor Jang Hyeon Jin, Institute of International Relations Cooperation, Jeonju University, Korea.

According to her, applying for a visa to enter South Korea in the past was a difficult issue for some Vietnamese tourists. “Through the connections between the provinces of the two countries, some South Korean provinces have special visa-free policies, increasing the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting South Korea”, Professor Jang replied.

She added that through the direct connection plan between the two provinces and cities, tourists from all over South Korea are also familiar with Vietnam’s tourism industry, and compared to previous years, the number of Korean tourists visiting Vietnam has significantly increased.

In particular, the special visa free policies of Jeju and Jeollando provinces help attract Vietnamese tourists to experience Korean tourist routes. Compared to traditional tourism departing from major cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, this open policy provides people with the opportunity to travel at lower costs, shortening preparation and travel time.

Kim Jang sil, Director of the South Korean Tourism Administration (KTO), said that in the past, Vietnamese tourists were only concentrated in urban areas such as Seoul, but recently, tourism products from Gangwon do, Busan, and Jeju have attracted a large number of tourists.

The Vietnam South Korean Tourism Bureau not only connected and established a tourism route close to Vietnamese tourists, but also launched a video creation competition for young people to recognize the impact of Korean culture on the travel decisions of Generation Z.

We are also actively promoting Korean Wave tourism to Vietnamese tourists through celebrities, “said Lee Jae Hoon, representative of the South Korean Tourism Administration in Vietnam.

Source: Laodong News