The participants at the Korea World Travel Fair are lined up at the opening ceremony of the global travel event that got kicked off at the A Hall of Coex in Seoul on July.(Photos:KOTFA)

A poster for the 30th Korea World Travel Fair that got underway on June 11-14 at Coex in Seoul.

The 30th Korea World  Travel Fair (KOTFA) concluded its four-day run on June 14 at the A Hall of COEX in Seoul.

KOTFA played the role of boosting overseas tourism in the summer for Koreans who have been considering an overseas jaunt, by putting on display tourism contents from 52 nations around the world, along with holding other events to spur tourism. Those events included the Travel Mart, sessions on tourism and seminars, along with a B2B program, all of which played a great role in promoting tourism.

The expo gathered 495 tourism-related firms from 52 nations, with 492 of them setting up their own booths to display their tourism promotion materials. The materials included photos that strengthened the expo as a global market player, while some 661,000 people came to the four-day event and attended the B2B consultations, briefing sessions and seminars. Because of MERS, the number of those who are truly interested in tourism increased, but the general public shied away.

Chairman Shin Joong-mok of the Organizing Committee of the 30th KOTFA makes a welcoming speech at the welcoming ceremony held a day before the June 11 opening of the 30th KOTFA at Coex in Seoul.

The event was broken down to the overseas tourism promotion hall, domestic tourism hall, the tourism trend hall, the overseas tourism commodities discount hall, and the main performance hall to provide a one-stop-service for those who want to have summer tours this year as they could collect tourism info, consultation on tourism commodities and make tourism reservations at the event.

The Korea International Tourism Exhibition was said to have expanded the B2B territory by holding events in the three major sectors of tourism, “In-Out-bound and Intra-bound,” through the Travel Mart and briefing sessions on tourism.

Some 11,000 tourism people from 52 nations came to the Seoul tourism event to sell tourism at their own booths, run B2B travel mart events and conduct at site consultations on registrations. In all, there were 374 cases of consultations on tourism for tourism exchanges to develop tourism in each other’s countries.

The participants included overseas buyers, in- and out-bound travel agents, tourism authorities overseas, and tourism people from regional tourism authorities in Korea. Also participating in the global tourism event were Mode Tour, Travel Doctor, Ohmyhotel, LotteJTB, spring and fall travel agents and professional golf tourism agents, who together operated the Overseas Tourism Product Special Discount Fair to take advantage of the Chuseok holiday tours and the Hangul Day tours in October. They sold package tours to Southeast Asia and other short-distance trips. Many potential tourists inquired about tours to such countries as Italy and Greece, which were often shown on TV news. The enquiries on tour packages to Japan were also received in large numbers due to the cheap yen. 

Various cultural events including performances pleased the participants. Some were performed on makeshift stages at booths by performers form some 10 countries including India, China, Taiwan, the Phillippines, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico. Gangwon Province joined their colorful, traditional and exotic cultural performances. Many people crowded the events to see the attractive cultural shows.

The domestic tourism booths also were popular, with many people visiting them with a number of short holidays coming up in the fall such as Chuseok and Hangeul Day. The booth for Wonju, Gangwon Province, North Gyeongsang Province, the Chinese booth and the booth for South Chungcheong Province attracted many people. Visitors were interested in their displays of indigenous costumes, especially the Chinese booth, which showed off its traditional costumes in exotic colors. 

A view of the  booth operated by the Busan Metropolitan City in Korea at KOTFA with many viewers at Coex in Seoul.

A booth operated by the Chinese delegates at KOTFA held at Coex in Seoul June 11-14 surrounded by many viewers.

Dolls in Korean tradional custumes, one male and the other a female at  a booth operated by the Korea Tourism Organization at KOTFA held at Coex in Seoul June 11-14.

Seen here are the two booths operated by the delegates from Malaysia and Indonesia  with many people surrounding them at KOTFA held at Coex in Seoul June 11-14.

The Mt. Jiri Sphere Tourism Development Cooperative came to the expo, bringing tourism promotion teams from seven counties surrounding the famous mountain in Korea. The centerpiece of their tourism promotion was Queen Chunhyang and dancers performing to the tune of music indigenous to the Mt. Jiri area. Korean Air displayed its first class seats, the Kosmos Suites.

The awards for the top booths in the expo went to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the Tourism Office of Malaysia, the Tourism Office of Mexico and the Embassy of Oman in Korea. The top public relations awards went to the Busan Metropolitan City, the Korea Duty Free Shop Association, the Sweet Book Co., the Tourism Office of Sri Lanka and the Tourism Office of India. The awards for top marketing went to the Jiri Mountain Sphere Tourism Development Cooperative, the Incheon Metropolitan City, the Gwangju Metropolitan City, the Gangwon Province, the Tourism Office of Georgia, the Guam Tourism Office, the Hong Kong Express and others.

Key figures at the Korea World Travel Fair pose for a photo session following the opening ceremony of the global tourism event on June 11 at Coex in Seoul.

  

A nummber of VIPs are gathered with drinks in their hands at the welcoming luncheon a day before the opening of the KOTFA on June 10 at Coex in Seoul hosted by the Organizing Committee of KOTFA led by Chairman Shin Joong-mok.

Chairman Shin Joong-mok of the Organizing Committee of KOTFA, said the fact that the tourism event ran for 30 years without fail is owed to tourists and participating organizations. The Organizing Committee would like to make the KITE like Germany’s ITB and WTM of Great Britain, and other tourism expos famous in the world through the Kotpa 2020 Vision. The Kotpa 2020 Vision was set up in the hopes that the KITE can match those of the top-class tourism expos in the world. The chairman went on to say that they will continue to work hard so that the expo makes great contributions to the development of the tourism industry in Korea by strengthening its competitive power.

Chinese performers are seen in this photo taken after performing their traditional Chinese dance number in traditonal Chinese costumes during the closing ceremony of KOTFA on June 14.Chairman Shin Joong-mok presents a plaque for the Best Booth Operation Award to the representative of the Chinese delegation.

The performers who came from various countries in the world are seen during the closing ceremony of the 30th KOTFA at Coex on June 14 in Seoul.