"We have upgraded the 2017 KOTFA to be one of the four largest travel fairs in the world,” boasted President Hong Ju-min of Korea World Travel Fair on the eve of the opening of the event in Seoul’s Coex on June 1-4. The travel event that has become almost an annual travel fair in Korea since 1986 will be quite different this year from the past ones from the way it was described by the CEO of the KOTFA.
The annual travel fair will be the 32nd this year attended by travel agents, embassies and tourism organizations from over 50 countries to showcase their countries’ respective tourist products and information on their tourism industries.
The KOTFA this year is special because it is jointly sponsored by both KOTFA and the Korea Tourism Association. It also has more booths compared to past iterations, with events that include a food fair. A number of ASEAN member countries such as Indonesia and Thailand will present their own special foods at the fair with this year being the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.
This is the 32nd year KOTFA is being held. “Thank you for showing an enthusiastic response to our company's exhibition,” said Chairman Shin Jung-mok of the Organizing Committee of the 2017 KOTFA for Korea World Travel Fair. “In retrospect, it feels like just a few days ago we had integrated KOTFA, OTF, and held the first KOTFA.”
“Through a lot of change and trouble, with your attention and support, the fair has now grown to be one of the representative international fairs in Korea with some 60 countries participating in the great event,” Shin added. “Since it started, there have been many changes and much progression all around. Particularly with it liberalizing the overseas trips in 1989, Korean tourism business has been expanded. Now our in-out bound services are in the 30 millions. Our staff and I are very proud of this assignment. We will continue to provide a differentiated service and know-how.”
The 32nd Korea International Tourism Exhibition (KOTFA 2017) is slated for June 1-4 at Coex in Seoul. The tourism event is designed to boost in- and out-bound tourism centered on B2C, supplemented by B2B. The expo offers tourism agencies, companies and academics a venue to exchange information on the industry. Suppliers and general consumers also benefit from being able to expand tourist exchanges and tourism networks.
Above all, it’s a market place for the sale and the purchase of tourism products and services. The Organizing Committee of KOTFA 2017, led by Chairman Shin, has been putting resources into the annual event to help bring it to the same level as renowned international tourism events such as ITB by 2030.
They would like to help Korea cope with changes in the environment of the tourism industry and consumers needs by improving designs and services. They also want to expand public participation to strengthen the exhibition’s functions. They aim to challenge the concept that exhibitions are inseparable from booths, stressing they can be partners with participating firms to further enhance the competitive strength of Korean tourism exhibitions. The A-Hall, located on the ground floor of Coex, will show off the best tourism information in some 70 countries thru the Tourism Public Relations Outlets of those countries. The B Hall will have colorful facilities for games and experiences as centerpieces.
The specially planned sections at the B Hall will include an exhibition booth for 10 ASEAN countries, where they will hold a food festival; the World Spa Hall introducing famous spas in the U.S., Japan, Macao, Mexico, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Taiwan and others; the VR Hall jointly operated by associations in Macao, Mexico, Korea, Guam, among others; and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Hall run by the Organizing Committee of the 2018 global event to show off some of the major events. The B Hall will also explore culture, the arts, leisure sports, education, medicine, farming, environmental welfare and others related to tourism to participate to spur inter-sector cooperation to expand the tourism industry’s related areas in- and outside the industry.
The Organizing Committee will have B2B programs to include expanded contents to explain domestic travel programs through the signing of MOUs with new international tourism organizations and international tourism exhibitions to boost cooperation as well as its competitive strength.
The event will show its concern for international issues such as climate change by operating the Eco environment friendly booth. The booth will give out “Eco bags” to customers who bought admission tickets to the exhibition. The environmental campaign aims at reducing the one-time of use paper cups, recommending more environmentally friendly goods to turn the exhibition into a display designed to “reduce the use of CO2 to zero.”
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A view of the inside of the KOTFA held at Coex, Seoul, from June 1-4.
A view of a booth at 2017 KOTFA held at Coex, Seoul.
The Organizing Committee will supplement the four-day event by introducing the use of marketing tools at the exhibition by signing MOUs with Naver, which has some 3 million memberships, and JTBC Non-Summit Foreign Management Group to promote talkshow on travel, and video marketing in joint cooperation with the tourism government agencies, and domestic tourism agencies to attract attention from the tourism industry, as a new paradigm for tourism marketing through exhibitions.
“Welcoming our 30th anniversary, KOTFA provides clients with better service though new formats and developed contents. We will offer various and sufficient internal and external tourism services to the public, brisk consultation, and exchange opportunities with companies. While also holding related program like presentations and seminar, we are playing the role of a Korean tourism market place with national competitiveness,” they said. “Preparing to welcome an age of 50 million in tourism exchanges, we appreciate your attention and encouragement. We also promise to do our best to advance the tourist industry not only in Korea but all around the world. We hope all of you will benefit from KOTFA.”
The Korea World Travel Fair (KOTFA) is, with its 32 years history, the largest international travel fair in Korea where 60 countries are participating to promote their tourism resources and cultures.
The KOTFA is the only international travel fair in Korea where the official tourism organizations at home and abroad are participating and sponsoring.
The KOTFA is supporting to strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism industry in Korea by combining inbound, outbound and intrabound tourism together and providing a market place for mutual relationship among tourism businesses at home and abroad. The organization is constantly pursuing the public concerns by providing various benefits to enable the developing countries to participate in the Fair, and enlarging the international relationship.
It is dedicated to encouraging the sound tourism of Korean travelers by offering various information of domestic and foreign tourism attractions.
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