'Seoul most desired travel destination'
Published on | Source
By Kim Rahn
Travelers from China, Japan or Thailand selected Seoul as the city foremost on their minds as a future destination, according to a survey Wednesday.
The survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed that Chinese, Japanese and Thais chose Seoul as the city they want to visit within the next 12 months for the third consecutive year. The research was conducted on 1,850 Chinese, 1,250 Japanese and 700 Thais between November and January.
Chinese respondents preferred Seoul over Tokyo and Sydney, while Japanese selected Seoul, followed by Honolulu and Paris. Thais wanted to visit Seoul the most then Tokyo and the Maldives.
The city government said Seoul's popularity among the Chinese grew a great deal last year, with the number of visitors jumping by 40 percent from 2009. "Some 29 percent of surveyed Chinese put Seoul first in selecting travel destinations, up from 2009's 20.9 percent", a city official said.
As for the Japanese, Seoul is the top choice when they consider an overseas trip and when they recommend a destination to others. More than 95 percent of Thais surveyed said they want to visit Korea.
When asked why, the largest number of the surveyed Thais and the second largest number of Chinese said they became interested in the city after watching promotions and advertisements in the media.
"Since 2008, we've produced tailor-made ads for the Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian markets. We also have hallyu stars, including Super Junior, Girls' Generation and 2PM, appear in Seoul's overseas promotions", the official said.
The city government also marketed Seoul on the Discovery Channel, TV Tokyo, Chinese CCTV and Thailand's Channel 5, he added.
Travelers from China, Japan or Thailand selected Seoul as the city foremost on their minds as a future destination, according to a survey Wednesday.
The survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed that Chinese, Japanese and Thais chose Seoul as the city they want to visit within the next 12 months for the third consecutive year. The research was conducted on 1,850 Chinese, 1,250 Japanese and 700 Thais between November and January.
Chinese respondents preferred Seoul over Tokyo and Sydney, while Japanese selected Seoul, followed by Honolulu and Paris. Thais wanted to visit Seoul the most then Tokyo and the Maldives.
The city government said Seoul's popularity among the Chinese grew a great deal last year, with the number of visitors jumping by 40 percent from 2009. "Some 29 percent of surveyed Chinese put Seoul first in selecting travel destinations, up from 2009's 20.9 percent", a city official said.
As for the Japanese, Seoul is the top choice when they consider an overseas trip and when they recommend a destination to others. More than 95 percent of Thais surveyed said they want to visit Korea.
When asked why, the largest number of the surveyed Thais and the second largest number of Chinese said they became interested in the city after watching promotions and advertisements in the media.
"Since 2008, we've produced tailor-made ads for the Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian markets. We also have hallyu stars, including Super Junior, Girls' Generation and 2PM, appear in Seoul's overseas promotions", the official said.
The city government also marketed Seoul on the Discovery Channel, TV Tokyo, Chinese CCTV and Thailand's Channel 5, he added.
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