German boy band Elevator Boys creates video promoting travel to Korea

Elevator Boys pose for photos at Gyeongbok Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 10 [KOREA TOURSIM ORGANIZATION]

The Korea Tourism Organization created a K-tour promotion video with German boy band Elevator Boys, the organization said Wednesday.

Elevator Boys is a boy band composed of five German entertainers who went viral on TikTok with their video in an elevator, where they gained the name of their band. The band is actively working in various fields, including music, fashion and acting, boasting 2.3 million followers on TikTok, 1.6 million followers on YouTube and 470K followers on Instagram.

It was appointed an “Honorary Ambassador for Korean Tourism” in August, as the band showed a keen interest in K-pop, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.

For the upcoming promotional video, the Korea Tourism Organization filmed the five members engaging in various tourist activities in Korea, including trying out a hanok (traditional Korean home) cafe and tasting Korean cuisine at Gwangjang Market in central Seoul. The footage will be edited and created into a video to be uploaded on the official YouTube channel of both Elevator Boys and the Korea Tourism Organization. A date for the video release has not been set yet, the organization said.

“The growing interest in Hallyu and the increase in visitors to Korea from Europe, traditionally considered a stronghold of cultural influence, is very meaningful,” Kwak Jae-yeon, director of the Halllyu Tourism team at Korea Tourism Organization, said Wednesday.

"In response to the complete recovery from the pandemic in the German market, we plan to carry out various promotional activities to turn this interest in Hallyu into actual visits to Korea."

The number of German tourists visiting Korea reached approximately 115,000, marking an 11.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019. This figure significantly surpasses the pre-pandemic level of tourism from Germany to Korea.

BY LEE CHAE-MIN [lee.chaemin1@joongang.co.kr]