K-culture takes center stage at KCON Saudi Arabia

Food & Travel

Published: 08 Oct. 2023, 13:36 Updated: 08 Oct. 2023, 13:40

K-culture takes center stage at KCON Saudi Arabia

KCON 2022 Saudi Arabia attracted around 20,000 visitors to its two-day Hallyu festivity, according to CJ ENM. [CJ ENM]

Concertgoers to this month's KCON Saudi Arabia experienced Korean food, fashion and beauty products in addition to exciting K-pop performances.

K-Travel Festa in Saudi, jointly hosted by the Culture Ministry and Korea Tourism Organization, operated a slew of promotional booths at the same venue and dates at the KCON concert. Visitors experienced Korean products like those from beauty brand Innisfree and food brand Nongshim, at Mohammed Abdu Arena from Oct. 6 to 7.

Special items catering to the region's locals such as Halal-certified ramen and face masks were available, said the ministry through a news release on Friday.

Some 20,000 young people showed up for the upcoming KCON in Riyadh. It featured popular acts like Oh My Girl, Highlight, Super Junior and Hyolyn. KCON is a global K-pop festival hosted by CJ ENM, held since 2012 around the world.

The government also plans to hold two consulting and networking events for Korean and Middle Eastern businesses on Oct. 8, at JW Marriott Riyadh. Fourteen local shopping and tourism companies, including Hyundai Department Store and Lotte Hotels & Resorts, are slated to attend "Korean Tourism Travel Mart" (translated), and some 250 people, including social media influencers, journalists and government authorities will attend the "Night of Korean Tourism" which will introduce tourism trends in Korea.

The ministry said that it considers Saudi Arabia a key country for its tourism industry, citing that an average tourist from the six major Middle Eastern countries — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman — spends about $2,600 in Korea and stays for around 10.7 days. It highlighted that Saudi Arabia accounts for 55 percent of visits to Korea by the six Middle Eastern countries.

The Korean government established a Saudi tourism office in Korea in August 2021 and has increased the number of flights connecting Incheon and Jiddah, in March this year.

“The six key countries in the Middle East are markets with high purchasing power, almost spending twice as much per tourist [compared to other countries],” Park Jong-taek of the Culture Ministry's Tourism Policy Bureau said in the news release. “With this event, which attracts a large number of people interested in the Korean culture with a high likelihood of visiting Korea, we hope to attract many of them to Korea."

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]