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Korea’s biggest shopping festival, the Korea Grand Sale 2014, will be held from January 3 to February 16. The grand event will run for 45 days simultaneously in cities and provinces including Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Ulsan, Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, South Chungcheong Province, and Jeju Special International City.
Hosted by the Visit Korea Committee (VKC), sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and partnered with MasterCard, the Korea Grand Sale 2014 will be the biggest ever this year. 27,291 stores from 118 companies including department stores, duty-free shops, outlets, hotels, megastores, and supermarkets will participate, along with the country’s 17 municipalities’ traditional markets, offering a variety of shopping benefits, most notably a 10 to 50 percent discount to foreign tourists.
This year’s Korea Grand Sale kicks off with the Welcome Event at Inchon Airport and the Opening Event at Doota Tower in Dongdaemun on January 3, offering a variety of events for 45 days. In particular, the mammoth event center located at the front of Doota Tower will hold weekly events and festivals with themes focusing on fashion, entertainment, food, and beauty. Tourists from around the world will not only enjoy shopping but also experience Korean fashion and traditional cuisine.
For those tourists staying for longer than two nights or more, the benefit called “One-More-Night Promotion” will be offered, with free room and board for one additional night. Twenty-three 5-star hotels in Korea will participate in this program. Some hotels will provide perks such as the use of hotel facilities, and restaurant discounts will be given as well.
This coming Korea Grand Sale event puts more emphasis on giving foreign tourists easy access to Korea Grand Sale’s shopping-related tips and event information. An interactive web site has been designed to work with PCs, tablets, and smartphones, allowing tourists to easily maneuver through the event and get quick information with the push of a button.
In particular, an online event will be held until January 12 to celebrate the official launching of the website, including a major sweepstakes event in which one foreign tourist will be selected and given a super-luxury package gift complete with a First Class ticket from Korean Air, a one night stay at a suit at Hotel Lotte Seoul, and a Lotte Duty-free Shop gift certificate worth 1 million won (US$944). During the promotional period, Wi-Fi hotspots exclusive to the event will also be installed around the Myeongdong area so that tourists can access information any time and share quick shopping tips.
Meanwhile, before the grand sale event starts, a “Boom-Up” event called the Pre-Korea Grand Sale will take place until the end of this year to hype the Korea Grand Sale and to attract 12 million tourists. Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, Daegu Grand Duty-free Shop, Lotte Duty-free Shop, Shilla Duty-free Shop, Shinsegae Duty-free Shop, the Korea Tourism Organization’s Duty-free Shop, the Galleria Luxury Hall, Doota, Lotte Fitin, Shinsegae Simon Premium Outlets, Lotte Premium Outlets, and Lotte Outlets are participating and actively promoting discounts and perks.
VKC Director Han Kyung-ah said, “The Korea Grand Sale 2014 is more than merely a shopping event. It will be a more colorful and plentiful event compared to previous ones by giving tourists some chances to experience Hallyu (K-Wave) culture.” She went on to say, “We want to give shopping tourists from around the world a sense of what makes Korea special. To that end, we are working closely with national flag airlines such as Korean Air, Asiana Air, Jin Air, and Jeju Air to develop various products and promotional packages for foreign tourists. And by aligning ourselves with MasterCard, we can use their network to promote our event overseas including in Japan and China.”
The official home page provides more detailed information on Korea Grand Sale 2014.