Korean Job Discussion Forums

[drkalbi]

Koreans tend to show greater hospitality to Western tourists than to their Asian neighbors, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said yesterday.

The institute's latest survey of 5,822 inbound tourists from 16 countries during the first half of 2009 revealed a disparity in satisfaction between visitors from the West and visitors from Asian countries.

The survey showed that among visitors from Western nations Germans and French tourists topped the satisfaction barometer with 79.7 percent and 77.9 percent, noting that "Koreans are friendly." Tourists from the United Kingdom (77.1 percent), North America (73 percent), and Australia (71.4 percent) followed, showing the majority of Western tourists that visited Korea felt Koreans were hospitable.

In contrast, tourists from Taiwan (32.8 percent), Thailand (48.9 percent), Japan (48.6 percent) and Hong Kong/Singapore (44.5 percent) universally gave Korea a low rating in hospitality, which suggests Koreans are selective when it comes to hospitality towards foreign visitors.

While Western tourists vaguely singled-out "friendliness" as the most memorable part of their trip, Asian tourists were more specific with focused interests. Japanese tourists chose Korean cuisine as the most attractive, with Thai tourists noting the "unique cultural assets of Korea," Taiwanese tourists pointed out the "clean streets," and those from Hong Kong singled out the "shopping environment" as memorable factors of their visit to Korea.

The survey also revealed that Korea is attractive for budget travelers and those interested in shopping.

Of all the survey participants, 54.9 percent said they visited Korea to shop and 43.2 percent said the currency exchange rate and low travel expenses were reasons they chose Korea as a travel destination.

According to the Korea Tourism and Culture Institute, "hospitality is an important factor in getting previous visitors to come back" and added, "we would like to see hospitality spread to all foreign visitors."

[mongolian spot]

This is quite intersting.

BTW Japan were voted in a massive survey recently as the best tourists, but the fact is that most Koreans hate the Japs. Period.

[jpotter78]

[Enrico Palazzo]

[GoldMember]

There are many ho hahs taught in school in Korea:
Korean is scientific
Korea has 4 seasons
Foreigners can't eat spicy food, AND
Koreans are kind to foreigners.

[nosmallplans]

I question how much actual face time you get with the locals when you go on those big controlled tours that you always see the Asian tourists on. Perhaps if a Japanese couple were to take a more Western DIY tour method they might experience more hospitality. Or less I suppose.

[steveinincheon]

This doesn't surprise me. Koreans do seem to be very friendly to people who are obviously new or just visiting. There is some logic to why newbs go around so bright-eyed and happy at first - well the white ones at least. The Koreans really do make them feel like rockstars at first. I remember by first couple weeks here I got free extras practically everywhere. Many people came up and were very friendly - they must have been able to sense I was new. These days I very rarely get any of that. However, when family and friends visit they always get the same treatment I did the first weeks I was here.

I can see why other Asians would say they are less friendly. The J's aren't exactly well-liked here, and other Asian nationalities are often assumed to be 3-D workers.

[Ukon]

[crossmr]

Personally I found Koreans and Japanese to be equally friendly on a tourism basis. I found Korea as a country to be friendlier than Japan due to the much heavier usage of english on non-government signs (things like road signs and subway stations). I'm going to osaka in a couple weeks, so we'll see if its any better than fukuoka.

[orosee]

[earthbound14]

I've also found Koreans to be very friendly with tourists.

When I'm out travelling around with a pack...Koreans are really cool. Once they find out you are visiting they seem to try even harder to be nice to you.

It's a bit funny, cause as soon as you take off the old tourist gear and head to work...the experience changes a bit.

I'm just saying it seems that there has been a bit of propaganda to ecourage Koreans to be nice to foreign visitors....white foreign visitors.

[pkang0202]

I recently went to Garak Market to get some fresh seafood with some Chinese friends. The middle aged Korean men sitting at a table said hi to us, found out the guys were from China and paid for our dinner. While we were eating they were talking in Chinese and drinking.

My Chinese friends were here for 3-4 days and they said Koreans were real friendly. They went to Times Square Yeoungdongpo by themselves and every person they asked for help (with directions and signs and stuff) were really friendly. They said it was really nice.

[Old Gil]

I think Korea, in general, is a very hospitable place to customers. As most tourists are customers, they would see a very nice side to Korea. It's when one becomes an employee or otherwise dependent on a Korean institution for one's livelihood that the ugly side comes out.

[TellyRules986]

[peppermint]

I'm not surprised, though I suspect it might be a relatively new phenomenon. I remember the massive ad campaigns leading up to the World Cup to encourage Koreans to smile and say "Welcome to Korea!" to any foreigners they might meet. I heard that phrase relatively often from random strangers up til at least 2006.