Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SHANE02]

Seoul tourism programs fail to meet expectations

January 20, 2009
On the morning of Jan. 16, this reporter called an �Innostel� in Dongdaemun district, Seoul to see if they could take a reservation in English. Such establishments are certified by the Seoul government for foreign tourists.

(In Korean) �Anyeonghasaeyo, [hotel name].�

�I�d like to make a reservation for two days from tomorrow night.�

�Ah... Um....�

�Can anyone speak English there?�

(Muttering in Korean) �I don�t know what she�s saying...�

Then the phone was hung up.

While Seoul is carrying out a wide range of projects with the goal of attracting 12 million tourists by 2010, it remains to be seen whether the plans are having any effect.

The term �Innostel� is a combination of �innovative� and �hostel,� and refers to comfortable-yet-affordable accommodations that had received the city�s stamp of approval.

But a recent survey conducted by the JoongAng Daily, however, has found that the ability to communicate in English is severely lacking.

Of 31 Innostels called, half weren�t able to take a reservation in English. Staff at 10 of the 24 Innostels in Jongno District, central Seoul, which has the largest concentration of the hotels, couldn�t speak English.

Some just hung up the phone upon hearing English.

The Seoul city government certified 81 Innostels between 2007 and 2008 after an inspection. The establishments get benefits such as a 20 percent discount on water fees and marketing and renovation subsidies.

�We have carried out education programs for Innostels four times since 2007 so they can properly cater to foreign tourists. However, we failed to check whether they can communicate in English by telephone,� said Han Young-hee, director in charge of tourism promotion at Seoul Metropolitan Government.
�We will strengthen supervision of Innostels from now on. We�ll also come up with measures to address problems related to English communication by establishing an auxiliary interpretation service for Innostels,� he added.

Other tourism promotion programs also seem to be struggling. The Seoul City Tour Bus program, launched in 2000, has seen its average daily number of riders fall from 446 in 2006 to 409 in 2007 and 304 in 2008.

�The government should first have a clear grasp of the market situation when devising such programs, and carry out proper preparation through discussion with the private sector, the actual player in the program,� said Lee Yeon-taek, a professor of tourism at Hanyang University.

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Piss poor as usual. Most of the people on the Seoul City Tour are probably Koreans trying to get free English for their kids.

[SHANE02]

sorry: source http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2900059

[tophatcat]

We Are Global Geniuses

[Guri Guy]

South Koreans and their grandiose schemes.

Innostel should be changed to inhospitable.

[mindmetoo]

Isn't the Korea Sparkling site all in Korean?

[SHANE02]

I was looking at a really cool map in the subway train the other day (on the wall). It had all the things to see on that line with little pictures and a blurb for each. Really good quality and new and ALL in Korean with nothing in ANY other language.

tourism hub.......for Koreans

[agoodmouse]

My friend absolutely hates the Joongang Ilbo, says it and most other English dailies I read are conservative rags. She reads the Hankyoreh exclusively.

[samcheokguy]

-the Korean times are a liberal american-bashing press that is xenophobic and evil
-the Chosun Ilbo is the far right paper-well they'd say center right but...
-the other papers, Dong-ah and Joongang are also right but not as far as the Chosun.
Korean Law forbids a media holding owning TV and Press which is why the TV news is so darn leftist.

[diver]