10-million tourist arrivals

Time to beef up infrastructure, service spirits

Korea is expected to reach another industrial landmark Wednesday when this year’s 10-millionth foreign visitor enters the country.

The doubling of inbound tourists in a decade, from 5 million in 2002, is meaningful as it shows the industry’s spectacular growth and the nation’s emergence as one of the most visited countries in the world.

This is all the more welcome, coming at a time when exports have hit a snag amid the global recession. Given that the arrival of 10 tourists produces the economic effect of shipping out a mid-sized car, 10 million visitors are the equivalent of industrial production worth 22 trillion won.

Among various reasons behind the industry’s quantum leap, two factors stand out: the hallyu fervor led by K-pop and drama, and the explosive growth in Chinese arrivals. Tourists from China topped their Japanese counterparts in both visitor numbers and per-capita spending here for the first time this year.

The industry stands at a crossroads between continuous expansion and stagnation, depending on whether it can make a shift from quantitative to qualitative growth. A private research body estimates the tourism industry’s shares in the nation’s GDP and job creation at 5.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, compared with the corresponding figures of 9.3 percent and 10.4 percent for France.

Unlike Westerners, for instance, the Chinese and Japanese visitors feel less inspired by Korea’s natural and historical attractions, which are more or less similar to theirs. This means the industry needs to develop more diverse tour programs for visitors from neighboring countries by grafting high value-added products such as cultural, medical and convention tours. At stake is how to provide more sophisticated and differentiated programs to suit different tastes of visitors from all over the world.

Industry insiders, however, note there are far more urgent things to do.

First of all, Korea should sharply replenish its insufficient infrastructure, including lodging facilities. Currently, the supply at tourist hotels in Seoul and its vicinity stands at 28,000 rooms, way short of the demand for 38,000 rooms. So much so that some tourist agencies had to provide spa facilities as overnight accommodation for Chinese visitors, and later compensate them for it. No less serious are rip-offs by some thoughtless vendors and taxi drivers, who multiply prices several times.

The government should toughen the punishment of these shortsighted practices, which chase away inbound tourists and hinder one of the country’s most promising industries. Giving Chinese visitors all-night saunas as one-night lodging is unthinkable, given the worldwide competition to lure these free-spending tourists. Compare this with some Australian hotels, which include congee, one of Chinese people’s favorite foods, in their breakfast menus.

Korea can ill afford to lose the hard-won momentum of the tourism industry’s take-off by allowing surly immigration officials, overcharging cabbies and small, unapproved tour agencies to leave Korea’s image as a cheap, unkind and unreliable country in the minds of foreign visitors.

But promoting the so-called chimneyless industry should not just be for earning foreign exchange. To be one of the most visited countries should also mean to be one of the most admired ones. <The Korea Times>