Seoul eyes convention, tourism

Seoul City intends to boost the tourism industry as one of its top priority tasks for 2010, officials said yesterday.

Buoyed by recent reports and poll results touting Seoul as one of the world's most sought-after tourist destinations, the metropolitan government is ambitiously seeking to attract 10 million foreign tourists this year.

The envisioned influx is expected to create 30,000 new jobs and an economic effect of 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion), officials estimated.

The city will focus particularly on tourists coming to Seoul to participate in international conventions, exhibitions, or to get medical treatment. It will also try to attract more Chinese tourists as their number is expected to rise due to a loosening of visa regulations.

By boosting the convention industry, the city hopes to increase the number of international conferences it hosts this year to 150 and attract 300,000 people. Last year, 120 international conferences were held in Seoul, attracting 230,000 people.

Also seeking to boost the medical tourism industry, it hopes to increase the number of medical tourists to 52,000 from 37,000 recorded last year.

The city plans to offer a range of support programs for foreign medical tourists and improve related rules and regulations to reinvigorate medical tourism. It will also seek to intensify publicity efforts to attract more foreign patients.

The city plans to develop a set of special tourism products targeting Chinese tourists, which will enable them to visit major tourist attractions where they can experience Korean food, culture and advanced technology.

For 2010, it seeks to attract 1.8 million Chinese tourists. Last year, 1.34 million Chinese people visited Seoul.

"Seoul will host the G20 Summit and serve as the World Design Capital this year. We will aggressively seek to forge a congenial environment for foreign tourists and improve accommodation facilities here. Through such efforts, we hope to open an era of 10 million foreign tourists," said a senior city official.

In its paper dated Jan. 10, the New York Times placed Seoul third on its list of "the 31 Places to Go in 2010."

Seoul was also selected as the destination Chinese, Japanese and Thai tourists most wanted to visit within a year, in a survey conducted in November 2008 by AC Nielsen, a global marketing research firm.