Korea to Launch Massive Tourism Campaign in Japan
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Korea will launch a massive campaign in Japan to lure more tourists after the latest North Korean nuclear test.
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Tourist numbers from Japan rose earlier this year as bilateral ties showed signs of improving but took a nosedive when the North started firing more and more missiles before conducting another nuclear test last month.
The Korea Tourism Organization will have a prominent presence at the Tourism Expo Japan 2017 in Tokyo from Thursday to Sunday. It brings together some 1,100 agencies from about 140 countries and regions. Korea is sending its largest ever delegation of 180 officials from 22 local municipalities and 17 travel agencies.
The Korean pavilion consists of 58 booths, including for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, regional tourism, and medical tourism.
Shin Sang-yong, the director of the KTO's Tokyo office, said, "We're going to turn this event into an opportunity to make a favorable impression of Korea on Japanese people who hesitate to come to Korea in the wake of North Korea's missile launches".
The government originally set a target of 18 million foreign tourists for the year but has now slashed it to 12.5 million amid an unofficial Chinese boycott, with Japanese tourists expected to dwindle from an estimated 2.5 million to 2.3 million.