Korean Job Discussion Forums

hockeyguy109 · Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Location: Daegu

I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Korean food at all....but I wouldn't come to Korea for it. If you are traveling to try great food, why not go to France, Japan, Thailand or Italy?

"And through frequent surveys conducted by the KTO, food has consistently ranked first or second place as one of the nation's biggest tourist draws. "

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/03/201002030013.asp

benji1422 · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Location: Los Angeles & Seoul

Don't you think it is a smug, slightly racist (or maybe Euroecentric) attitude of expats on this board (and everywhere in Asia for that matter) that anything that is specifically "Korean" culture including food, music, cannot be something that others attain or strive for, or be desirable? Why must culture and know-how only travel from the all-knowing west to east?

Korean food is a tourist attraction to mainly Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese tourists. In China, Korean food is the most popular foreign cuisine and is seen to be of a high class, like sushi in America.

oskinny1 · Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Location: Right behind you!

What reasons would you give for visiting Korea as a tourist? Most will say shopping and food. Not much else to see or do since most tourists are from China and Japan and they already have mountains and temples.

redaxe · Joined: 01 Dec 2008

Actually the food was one of the big draws of Korea for me when I first decided to come here for work. I love Korean food.

Now, I wouldn't cross the Pacific Ocean JUST for good bulgogi, and I do get kinda tired of Korean food when I don't have a lot of other good food options and have to eat it every day.

But you also have to remember that a huge number of tourists to Korea are coming here for the weekend from Japan or Taiwan. For those people it actually does make sense to come here for two things: good Korean food and cheap shopping in Myungdong.

frankly speaking · Joined: 23 Oct 2005

There was a Korean drama daejon gum or something like that. The emphasis of the show revolved around the kitchen of some palace. I have never really watched it but it is hugely popular outside of Korea in Thailand and China.

Many people that I have heard talking are interested in Korean food as a result of watching this show.

Why wouldn't people want to come to Korea to eat food? I think that it is a valid reason for travel.

In fact, I think that it is more unlikely that people visit the US or Canada for the cuisine.

"Mom can we go to the US, I want to eat hamburgers and french fries."

nautilus · Joined: 26 Nov 2005 Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

Korean food is fine. Some of it is even great.
But on its own I don't think tourists would travel around the planet just to come and eat it.Its not a big enough drawcard to bring in tourist dollars.

Neither are tacky theme parks.
Neither are gaudy neon lights along bridges and riversides at night (although I kinda like it).
Neither are the temples. (They're modest compared to others in Asia).
The mountains have some attraction to a specific subset of tourists, however on their own they are not a significant drawcard.

The sets and settings of Korean TV dramas might be enough to lure a few SE Asians. But not a significant number.

What Korea did have, which it foolishly undervalued and set about completely destroying, was some beautiful natural attractions- picturesque islands, rivers, estuaries and coastline. All were quickly covered in concrete.
If Korea could set aside a relatively large area of wilderness, leave it mostly untouched (e.g. DMZ) and reintroduce a lot of its former wildlife (think tigers/ leopard, antelope etc) then it would however have a world-class attraction that I would certainly fly around the world to visit.

BigBuds · Joined: 15 Sep 2005 Location: Changwon

What they really need to do when they write these articles is show where these tourists are mainly coming from.

I can gaurantee you that the "tourists" they are refering too are mainlly from the local asian region not Western and European countries.

FistFace · Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:36 am Post subject:

They're talking Asian tourists. As for tourists from elsewhere, if my family is any indication, they cited the food as one of the reason why they aren't in a hurry to return.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

As already said, I'd guess the Asian tourists are the most appreciative of Korean food.

Westerners seem to love it or hate it.

A lot of foreigners (who hated Korean food at first) acquire a taste for things like kimchi and dwengjang after living here for a year or two.......but a one week holiday in Korea would not be enough time to acquire a taste for the dishes that really represent Korean food.

One thing is for sure, not nearly as many non-Asian tourists come to Korea for the food as the KTB would like us to believe.

Forever · Joined: 12 Nov 2009

oskinny1 - your avatar is so scary - almost as if he is stalking me when I log on here...

beercanman · Joined: 16 May 2009