Korean Job Discussion Forums

[korea.teacher]

In a new report from the World Economic Forum which ranked 140 nations based on the "attitude of population toward foreign visitors," South Korea ties with China for most unfriendliest country for tourists.

see: http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-most-unfriendly-countries-tourists-010523929.html.

You're here.

Agree or disagree?

[Lucas]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/14/travel/friendly-countries/index.html

Interestingly, despite their huge tourist arrivals, South Korea and China tied with four other countries for the eighth least friendly spot

Learn to read please!

Korea is not a 'tourist friendly place,' (outside of Seoul and one or two other larger cities) because of the historic lack of tourists!

The locals simple cannot communicate with them!

Even Seoul has quite a way to go.

But i'd rather be in SK than Pakistan!

[cj1976]

I usually warn my family and friends about coming here, because it isn't the easiest place to get around. Korea is a country built to serve the economy, not for tourism. That doesn't mean it is all bad though. Some of my cousins came here from Singapore and they enjoyed it.

[CentralCali]

Most unfriendliest?

[Captain Corea]

Yeah, that seems a bit harsh, IMO. The link in the OP wasn't working for me, but to classify SK as the worst... I'd be curious as to how they arrived at that.

For sure though, it can be tough to get around. Even with English signs and such, the variations in spellings, and the closeness of some names/words, can be frustrating for a visitor. I've had a fair bit of people come visit me form Canada though, and they enjoyed their time - but a lot of that was spent with me showing them around.

[Brooks]

I think Korea is better at tourism than before.
There are tourism places either inside stations or nearby stations in Seoul.
At Itaewon I thought the fellow was really helpful. He must have been Korean-American.

I went to Anguk and there were a couple people walking around to help tourists.

I got information in English, a postcard, maps too and it was free.

I think Korea is promoting its country.
There are fewer Japanese who visit, due to the high yen, so they cater to the Chinese.

[sojusucks]

I think some things have improved for tourists, especially in Seoul, but there are still too many bad attitudes towards tourists and the coordinated effort you see in other countries is clearly lacking, especially outside of Seoul. Also, the planning for large events, like the F1 and the Track & Field Championships in Daegu, have been pathetic.
One of the bright spots, in my mind, has been the Seoul City Bus Tour because it allows tourists to easily see many parts of town and many tourist attractions in one day for only 10,000 won. So why don't other cities in Korea offer local city tour buses?

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_10.jsp

Well, if you look at the link, many Korean cities, (Suwon, Daegu, Busan, Incheon, etc...), do offer bus tours, but they don't advertise that the buses are there, there's little infomation about the buses, and no one in various local Korean governmental bodies seems to care about following through. That happens on so many levels, especially outside of Seoul. The lack of proper planning and coordination impacts the number of tourists who attend various festivals held around Korea during the year. What doesn't make any sense is that there's so much money to be made from tourism with tourists from Japan and China, why not organize things better and make it easier for tourists to attend festivals and take tours? Any money spent will come back tenfold or more. It's a very wise investment.

[lemak]

[slothrop]

edit

[sojusucks]

[sojusucks]

I'm not sure where the graders traveled in Korea but if they chose the "same old places" like the 63 Building, Coex, Insadong, Dongdaemun, and even Seoul Tower then they would run into some Koreans with negative attitudes. There's nothing like the sight of drunken ajoshis lying all around Topgol Park on your way to Insadong or watching ajummas argue over who will charge you too much for an umbrella in Dongdaemun. Those are some tired old places that are yesterday's news.
The "happening" places would be relatively newer haunts like: Cheonggye Stream, Hongdae, Gwanghwamun Plaza, Seoul City Hall, and Myeong Dong would be more alive with a more youthful crowd. For graders trying to find an overall impression in a few short days that can make all of the difference.

[CentralCali]

[Weigookin74]

The CNN article doesn't get very specific on why South Korea and China are rated as unfriendly. I'd like to know why. The English level in some places in Seoul is decent.

[kimchikowboy]

Here is the ranking (second figure) for friendliness, as well as an interestingly high ranking for cultural resources:
12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism ............. 4.5 ............ 81
12.01 Tourism openness, % of GDP* ............................ 2.8 ..........104
12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors ....... 5.5 ..........129
12.03 Extension of business trips recommended .......... 5.2 ............78
12.04 Degree of customer orientation ............................ 5.6 ..............9
13th pillar: Natural resources .............................. 3.2 ............ 89
13.01 No. of World Heritage natural sites* ........................ 1 ............45
13.02 Quality of the natural environment ........................ 4.3 ............73
13.03 Total known species* .......................................... 457 ............80
13.04 Terrestrial biome protection (0�17%)* ................... 5.8 ..........100
13.05 Marine protected areas, %* ................................. 1.0 ............41
14th pillar: Cultural resources ............................. 6.0 ............10
14.01 No. of World Heritage cultural sites* ..................... 23 ............11
14.02 Sports stadiums, seats/million pop.* ........... 75,499.5 ............31
14.03 No. of int�l fairs and exhibitions* ....................... 204.3 ............17
14.04 Creative industries exports, % of world total* ....... 1.0 ............25

[alongway]

Define friendly.
Are we simply talking about people's attitudes?
The source for this is:
Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
page 455
of this document

it doesn't sound like they went out and actually sent people around to test this and relied on some kind of survey where they may have asked people who they thought foreigners might feel in their country. Pretty odd way to do it. If I was going to do some kind of ranking like this I'd instead look at things like:
1 - how many languages is tourism information officially available in
2 - what languages are available at most tourist spots (with english, being the international language, being a key one if the country isn't an english speaking country)
3 - How accessible is public transportation
4 - how accessible are restaurants to tourists? (do they have pictures/only text menus)
5 - How is hotel availability

etc
things of that nature would give you a much better picture.