Thousands of Chinese to land at Incheon

The largest tour group to ever land at Incheon International Airport will arrive later this month. The trip is an incentive tour for employees of the Guangzhou-based cosmetics company Aurance.

More than 4,000 Aurance employees from all over China will arrive in large groups over several days starting March 26. They will stay for one week, primarily in Incheon, where officials are currently working with the Chinese company and local airlines to attract as many Aurane workers as possible. So far, approximately 4,300 people have confirmed their participation.

The Incheon Metropolitan City Government issued a press release saying the employees will tour Seoul and Incheon through an incentive travel program, partaking in a company convention meeting on March 29 and 30 at the 54,000 square-meter convention center, Songdo Convensia.

Incheon authorities signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese company and several tour agencies in China and Korea, promising to arrange their week-long travel program.

Their temporary stay is expected to inject 12 billion won ($10 million) into the local economy.

The second group of 2,200 employees to arrive March 27 will tour Incheon, a city of 2.9 million, making short stops at a drama filming set, traditional markets, Incheon National University, China Town and Wolmi Traditional Park, which features palace gardens and a glass observatory atop Mount Wolmi.

The group will embark on a Seoul tour the following day to visit Changdeok Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, and ride on a ferry on the Han River.

On March 28, after dropping by Petite France, a French-themed cultural village in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi, the visitors will gather on Incheon’s Wolmi Island for a festive evening of chicken and beer.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]