A programme titled ‘Korea Night – 2020’ was organised by the Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) in Vietnam in Hanoi on November 24 as a part of a series of activities to reconnect tourist exchanges between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Park Jong Sun - Chief Representative of KTO in Vietnam
The event featured the participation of representatives from 70 Vietnamese travel companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
In recent years, Vietnam has consistantly been a key market for the ROK’s tourism. According to KTO's statistics, in 2018, the number of Vietnamese tourists to the ROK reached more than 457,000, an increase of more than 40% compared to 2017. By 2019, this number has reached more than 553,000, up 20% more than in 2018. The numbers confirmed the importance of the Vietnamese market for the ROK’s tourism. Simultaneously, the ROK has also become the second largest market for Vietnamese tourism.
The programme "Korea Night - 2020" aims to introduce prominent MICE tourism spaces (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) in the ROK, new destinations of the ROK’s tourism, and especially the KTO’s promotion activities in the market recovery phase.
According to Park Jong Sun - Chief Representative of KTO in Vietnam, 2020 has been a difficult year for the global tourism industry; tourism agencies are all severely affected. Therefore, events promoting MICE tourism are expected to be activities to promote and help revive the tourism market in the current period. In the coming time, the KTO will promote tourism promotional activities in Vietnam to re-promote the market and accompany travel agencies right after opening international tourism.
In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affecting global tourism in general and the ROK’s tourism in particular, the KTO's tourism exchange and promotion activities have gradually shifted to online platforms and using digital technology. Therefore, in order to promote MICE tourism between Vietnam and the ROK, the KTO organised the fair "Korea Mice Expo 2020" (KME 2020) from November 24 to 27. The expo is the biggest MICE travel fair of the year with many activities such as introducing MICE tourism in the ROK and connecting trade between tourism agencies of the two countries. The event attracts the participation of more than 200 the ROK’s agencies and MICE travel agencies, along with 23 major Vietnamese travel companies, is expected to be a meaningful activity to promote tourism activities and discover new prospects in cooperation between the two countries.