Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200809/200809010019.html

What Seoul Food Fest Can Learn From Singapore

Josh last Thursday visited Cheonggye Plaza, where Seoul Food Festival was being held. But the 24-year-old American just walked back and forth. "I don�t have the courage to taste the food because I don't know what�s in it."

The Seoul Food Festival from Aug. 22 to 31 was meant to publicize the excellence of Korean food to the world and develop it as a tourist attraction. It was an ambitious project by the Seoul city government with a budget of W950 million (US$1=W1,089). But experts said the festival seemed to focus on selling food rather than attracting tourists and publicizing Korean cuisine.

The Singapore Food Festival on July 4-27, which has grown into a world-renowned event since it was launched 15 years ago, offers interesting points of comparison.

◆ Singapore seeks customer-centered service

Last Thursday, no posters, placards or pamphlets on Seoul Food Festival were available at the tourist information center of Incheon International Airport. The scene was quite different at Singapore�s Changi International Airport on July 11, when big posters and signboards for the Singapore Food Festival filled the ceiling and other parts of the airport.

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◆ Poor English-language services in Seoul

English labels were being added for food at Cheonggye Plaza as late as Friday afternoon. The Five Tastes of Korea Exhibition Hall was the only venue that had provided English-language services from the beginning of the festival.

At Namsangol Hanok Village, Korean seasonal foods were described only as "minarimuchim" (seasoned dropwort), "jeonbokcho (seasoned abalone)," and "dureupnamul" (seasoned shoots of a fatsia). No foreigner would know what they are. Neither sales people nor guides at Cheonggye Plaza could answer simple English questions, such as "What's this?"

A Seoul city official said, "We deployed at least one English-Korean interpreter at every venue, but that�s not enough." <br>
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◆ Lots of tastings in Singapore

The Seoul Food Festival distributed a guidebook called "Introduction to 10 Korean Foods." But it was hard to find foods other than bibimbap (boiled rice with assorted vegetables), traditional alcoholic beverages and bulgogi (sliced and seasoned broiled beef).

Singapore also chose 10 "Must-Try Local Favorites," and visitors could sample them foods at downtown restaurants with their sampler coupons.

After looking around the Seoul festival, food critic Kang Ji-young said, "The festival looks like a food discount event for Koreans only, giving almost no thought to the convenience of foreign guests."




url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200809/200809010019.html

[wylies99]

[Fishead soup]

The best Korean food can be found in restaurants that use makeshift garbage bins to cook the meat. I love these places.

[Benicio]

Another "international" event, inside Korea, to "show the world" about Korean culture/food ends up being just geared towards locals- not accessible for non-Koreans.

There's a big f***ing surprise!

[Cohiba]

Hey Wylies, you got nothing better to do than reply to your own posts?

[ciccone_youth]

i actually went to the Seoul Food Festival (i stumbled upon it while walking around downtown), and I must admit, it was not very tourist-friendly. All the signs were in Korean, there were just stalls selling food (rather than promoting it and having samples to taste). it felt like the festival was targeting Koreans. i was the only foreigner there, and it was pretty empty. that's too bad, because they really could do something great with it.

a creepy clown kept following me, too.

[cj1976]

Singapore has cuisine. Korea has food. No comparison whatsoever.

[jkelly80]

[bangbayed]