"Don't go to Korea" shouted in Thailand, "Come to Korea"… achieved 1.5 billion in sales

On the 24th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced that they held a promotional event in Thailand to coincide with the country's peak travel season, the 'Songkran Holiday'.

Thailand is the country with the most inbound tourists to Korea in Southeast Asia, but recently the sentiment for visiting Korea has been gradually shrinking. Last year, 320,000 Thai tourists visited Korea, which is about half of the 570,000 Thai visitors in 2019.

According to the travel industry, since the implementation of the Electronic Travel Authorization System (K-ETA), there has been a growing reluctance among Thai people to visit Korea. This is influenced by reports of entry refusals or deportations at airports due to issues such as illegal stay. According to the Ministry of Justice's investigation, as of September 2023, the number of illegal Thai residents was over 157,000, three times the figure in 2015 (around 52,000).

The Ministry of Culture and the construction company explained that, based on the fact that the positive perception of Korean culture in Thailand remains high, they held the 'Love Korea' event in Bangkok to promote a positive image.

A total of 25 organizations, including airlines, travel agencies, and regional tourism organizations (RTOs), attended the event held at the large shopping mall 'Siam Paragon.' Over the two days, approximately 3,400 consultations were successfully conducted, with an estimated sales amount of 1.52 billion won.

During the event period, the Thai member of (G)I-DLE, Minnie, performed, and various events such as the Excellent Korean Tourism Content Awards ceremony were held.

Kim Jong-hoon, Director of International Marketing at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "According to the 2024 Overseas Hallyu Survey, the overall favorability towards Korean cultural content in Thailand is 83%, ranking third among 26 countries," and added, "We will leverage this high interest to strengthen local marketing efforts and work towards the recovery of inbound tourism to Thailand."

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It is said that the Korea Love Event held in Thailand was a great success.

I hope our country's tourism industry develops well.