K-Tourism promotional event to be held in Hong Kong with Highlight’s Yang Yo-seop

▲ This photo, provided by the MCST, shows the poster for the 'K-Tourist Road Show.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Mar. 24 (Yonhap) -- The iconic “K-Tourist Road Show” will return to Hong Kong in more than three years to promote Korean tourism.

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST), along with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), is gearing up to hold a tourism briefing session as well as a consulting session for related firms and K-culture experience events under the theme of “To Korea, where K-Culture Begins” at Hong Kong’s Mira Hotel and East Point City Shopping Mall from Friday to Sunday.

Local governments, including Seoul, Busan, and Jeju, and 24 tourism companies that showcase various themed tourism products are expected to participate to promote Korea’s special tourism production to about 30 local travel agencies in Hong Kong. The event will also serve as a venue where local consumers will be able to experience Korean culture, such as learning K-pop group choreographs and K-beauty make-up, as well as tasting Korean street food such as fried chicken with beer.

Meanwhile, Yang Yo-seop from the South Korean boy band Highlight is also scheduled to hold a mini concert, which will be followed by the performance of the non-verbal performance group Painters.

In addition, Carol Cheng Yu Ling, commonly referred to by her nickname Do Do, who has been named an honorary ambassador of K-tourism, will be hosting a series of events, including mini talk shows under the theme of Korean tourism.

Hong Kong has been reckoned as the center of K-culture where K-pop and Korean dramas have always garnered wide domestic attention to the point where the local Netflix chart for television series is mostly lined up with those produced in South Korea. Additionally, it was reported that in 2019, about 700,000 Hong Kong tourists visited Korea, ranking fifth after China, Japan, the United States, and Taiwan.

Hong Kong, which had been locked down for a while due to a strict Zero COVID-19 policy since January 2020, finally opened up its borders by loosening its quarantine regulations for travelers late last year.

As a result, the number of Hong Kong tourists who visited Korea as of the end of last month recovered to about 51 percent compared to 2019. The number has been on its surge since Oct. 7 last year with more Hong Kong tourists visiting the country in groups after 34 months.

The MCST said, “We believe this event will give a fillip to the recovery of tourism to Korea with the high proportion of female Hong Kong tourists who are in their 20s and 30s that show great interest in the Korean Wave.”

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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