Seoul resumes welcome week for tourists over Chuseok holidays

Social Affairs

Published: 27 Sep. 2023, 13:44

Seoul resumes welcome week for tourists over Chuseok holidays

Tourists in hanbok, or traditional Korean dress, post for a photo at Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul on Sept. 6. [NEWS 1]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will host a welcome week for foreign tourists for the first time in four years.

The special week will run from Thursday through Oct. 6, where special booths and events will be held to welcome and entertain tourists coming to Seoul during the country’s six-day Chuseok harvest holiday.

The event could not be held in the past four years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The welcome week began in 2014.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government, in particular, expects a high number of Chinese tourists, also known as youke, to visit the country during the Chuseok holidays as it marks the first long holiday since the Chinese government lifted the ban on group tours to Korea in August.

China lifted its ban on group tours to Seoul on Aug. 10, six years after Beijing imposed the ban in 2017 in response to the deployment of the Thaad missile defense system.

According to the city government, 22 percent of foreign tourists who visited Korea in July were Chinese, accounting for the highest share.

C-trip, China’s biggest online travel agency, said Korea ranked the second most popular travel destination in China after Thailand. The number of Chinese overseas travelers this year through Sept. 15 rose twentyfold compared to the previous year.

To recruit and welcome more youke, the city government will collaborate with Chinese credit card company UnionPay to offer special discounts at more than 700,000 stores and duty-free shops in Seoul.

Many events and shows that allow visitors to experience Korean culture will be held over the Chuseok holidays.

On Friday, the Seoul Street Arts Festival will be held at Seoul Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, where some 30 performances from circus to dance will be showcased.

On Sunday, the city of Seoul will hold the Hangang Drone Light Show at Ttukseom Han River Park in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, with a thousand drones expected to illuminate the night sky.

Welcome booths for foreign tourists will be set up at Gimpo International Airport and Myeong-dong in central Seoul.

International travelers will receive welcome kits at these booths including vouchers and a tour guide map. They will also be able to receive personal color consultations and taste some Korean traditional snacks at the booths.

At Gimpo International Airport, a photo zone will be set up, where travelers can try on hanbok, or traditional Korean clothes.

“The city government hopes the welcome week, resuming after four years, will help revive tourism in Seoul,” said Kim Young-hwan, the director general of the Tourism and Sports Bureau at the metropolitan government.

“We hope the week will help to create many good memories of Seoul for tourists.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]