It seems that Korean tourism is bucking all the trends as visitor figures from the UK continue to rise at a dramatic and impressive rate! In 2010 visitor arrivals grew by 6% to 97,500 and between January and May 2011 there was an 11% increase over the same period last year, reaching 45,000. All indications point to breaking the 100,000 mark by the year-end, which is a fantastic achievement, bearing in mind that UK visits abroad by UK residents has been falling since 2008.

Mr Hongki Kim, Director of the Korea Tourism Organization - London office commented that “ten UNESCO heritages across the peninsula have boosted the appeal of major historical sites in Korea. Added to which Korea has been positioned as a new cruise destination with the key ports of Busan & Incheon the major gateways to the country. All of which has paid dividends to increase both awareness and appeal of Korea as a tourism destination. From the 01st of July the ‘Free Trade Agreement’ (FTA) between Europe & Korea will come into effect thus generating more business travel to the region, so we are confident of smashing the 100,000 visitor mark”.

Other factors that are contributing to competitive growth in the tourism sector is Korea’s efforts to globalize as a country, becoming an ever more popular venue for a number of large cultural events that cross cultural boundaries and provide excitement for visitors of all nationalities. For young music lovers, there is ‘R-16 Korea’ (international B-Boy championships), ‘Korea in Motion’ (non-verbal performance festival) and the ‘Asia Song Festival.’ For sports enthusiasts, there’s the ‘F1 Korea Grand Prix’, now in its second year -which needs no introduction! -and the ‘IAAF World Athletics Championships Daegu’ which is set to attract the likes of Usain Bolt to hopefully go on and achieve new world records.

Let’s not forget that in recent years Korea has increased the number of UNESCO inscribed cultural and natural heritages, which have boosted visitation to these incredible sites. Those interested in exploring Korean culture, history, and cultural heritage should check out the historic city of Gyeongju during the ‘Gyeongju World Culture Expo’ period.