Annual Shopping & Tourism Festival
The Visit Korea Committee will host Korea Grand Sale 2019, an annual shopping and tourism festival, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28.
Throughout the 43 days of the festival, which is designed to attract foreign tourists to Korea, Korea Grand Sale will provide grand-scale discounts on a wide array of products and services, including airfares and hotel rates.
Major airlines and hotels that offer big discounts include: Jin Air (up to 85%), Jeju Air (up to 80%), Vivaldi Park and Daemyung Resort (60%-75%), Ramada Encore Haeundae (55%-70%), and Best Western Premier Seoul Garden Hotel (50%).
Bus tour packages will also provide great deals to help foreign tourists visit provincial areas. For instance, K-Travel Bus will provide a buy-one-get-one offer on seven routes (Daegu City, Gangwon Province, North Gyeongsang Province, South Jeolla Province, North and South Chungcheong provinces, Changwon City, Ganghwa Island).
Korea Grand Sale 2019 will be distinguishable from past editions. Through collaboration with Klook, a global booking activities platform, the organizer of the festival plans to provide special packages to foreign tourists in cooperation with the companies that provide most attractive shopping deals. This plan is aimed at advertising the benefits of Korea Grand Sale 2019 to potential tourists before their visit to Korea in order to enhance convenience in their shopping experience and lead to revenue generation for the participating companies.
Moreover, online shopping will be promoted through Kmall24, which is operated by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Kmall24 is a global scale online shopping mall that customers from about 70 countries visit every day. To promote Korea Grand Sale to customers staying in foreign countries, various events like presenting a K-goods gift box and raffles for flight tickets will be held.
In particular, Korea Grand Sale 2019 has chosen “tastes of Korea” as the main theme of the festival and will organize various events to allow foreign tourists to experience Korean foods. Over 60 hotel restaurants all over the country will participate in “Korea Grand Tasting – Special Tastes of Korea at Hotels” to introduce Korean foods to foreign visitors. There will be invitation events that allow customers to visit the hotel restaurants they select. Furthermore, an event will be held in collaboration with REDTABLE, a big-data based restaurant suggestion app, and 200 famous restaurants across the country, to offer prizes to customers who write the best comments on these restaurants.
There will be daily tour courses, including “Korea Road Trips with Famous Chefs” and “Korea's Traditional Liquor Tasting with Wine Masters,” which introduce Korea's history and culture through Korean foods and liquors. Korean food cooking classes will be provided by Korean food experience companies, including I LOVE HANSIK and O’ngo Food. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism will organize a Temple Food Experience program for foreign tourists.
Han Kyung-ah, secretary-general of the Visit Korea Committee said, “Korea Grand Sale 2019 is not simply a shopping promotion event. It is a tourism promotion event intended to help foreigners experience various aspects of Korean culture and food.” She added, “We will develop Korea Grand Sale into a festival that increases foreign tourist arrivals and contributes to stimulating the national economy.”
The Visit Korea Committee is also stepping up efforts to attract more tourists from target countries. It is publicizing the benefits of Korea Grand Sale through exhibitions in major Korean tourism markets, inclduing China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as in potential markets such as the United Arab Emirate and Macao.
Moreover, it is also promoting the festival through the overseas networks of global card companies, airlines, duty free shops, department stores, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), and KOTRA. The committee's PR campain also includes placing localized ads on major websites like Google, Baidu, and Yahoo, and on social media channels including Facebook, Weibo, and Youtube.
Along with these efforts, a Korea Grand Sale advertisement will be produced jointly with CJ ENM and aired in many countries to attract more foreign tourists. The committee will also invite many foreign influencers to events aimed at introducing Korea's unique foods and fashion styles that can be experienced only in Korea.
For more information, visit the festival website (https://en.koreagrandsale.co.kr/index002).