Nostalgia Tours
Chinese tourists visiting North Korea do so mainly for curiosity and nostalgia for old Chinese farming towns during the Cultural Revolution, according to a recent survey conducted by a Chinese doctoral student majoring in tourism management at the business school of the University of Waikato in New Zealand.
In the survey, older respondents answered that they were pretty satisfied with their visit because today’s North Korea reminded them of China in the 1960s and the 1970s. In contrast, younger ones, driven by curiosity in most cases, tended to be disappointed by the curfew, ban on the use of the Internet, lack of entertainment at night, etc. A smaller number of people mentioned, as their purposes, the Arirang performance, sightseeing at Mt. Kumgang, visit to the DMZ, business opportunities, traditional food of the North, and a trip less expensive than one to South Korea.
Most of the respondents, except for businessmen, said that they would not visit the North again. Their reasons included, above all, the lack of tourist facilities and attractions.
These days, approximately 100,000 foreign tourists visit North Korea a year and 80 percent to 90 percent of them are Chinese. In order to attract more Chinese tourists, North Korea has come up with travel packages of bike tours, motor trips, Taekwondo, camping and the like in border towns.