Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

Six out of 10 Foreign Tourists Willing to Revisit S. Korea

(Yonhap, 2005/03/02) More than six out of 10 foreigners who visited South Korea last year want to revisit the country, a poll showed Wednesday. According to the survey of 10,056 foreign tourists, 63.5 percent said they are willing to make a return visit within three years.

I'm just wondering if the people interviewed were actually illegal esl teachers doing privates?

[Mashimaro]

[Harin]

i don't.....

why?


us dollar is losing its position right now, and it wouldn't be as cheap as it used to be.

[casey's moon]

At the end of his 10-day tour, my father got accosted by some high school girls doing a survey. One of the questions they asked him was, "Would you ever want to visit Korea again?" At that time I was near the end of my second and (I thought) final year here, so his first reaction was, "No, I don't think so." But then he said, "Well actually, I think I would like to come back some day."

[jajdude]

Only 6/10? A visit on vacation is usually enjoyable. A totally foreign land... exotic, new, strange...

But yeah 6/10 sounds about right. Lots of other appealing destinations out there.

Any reasons given for interest in revisiting, or not?

[just because]

Its the kimchi guys.

Come on, one taste of kimchi and who wouldn't want to come back.

The 4/10 who don't want to come back just didn't get enough kimchi.

Kimchi does just about everything, including enticing tourists back again

[keithinkorea]

I've met few tourists in Korea very few indeed.

A lot of people who are not working here or on a business trip or something is very few. Most of the people who aren't working here are probably relatives visiting.

I've only met two tourists, a charming German couple. I met them in Edinburgh of all places, they came to Korea for a trip. They confessed to hating it , and asked me how I could stand all the 'staring, bizarre smells, rude ajumma shoving on the subway'. I said 'Well you do get used to it!'.

The truth is Korea is no tourist hub and never will be and the people who were interviewed were probably being polite about it. I know I wouldn't say to a person in a country where I was visiting that his-her country stank and was full of the second rudest people I've ever met in my life. It would be quite rude really.

Korea doesn't have great weather, good beaches, great skiing, amazing museums, breathtaking scenery or polite friendly people eager to please tourists. Korea does have a pretty unique and -strange to us occidentals- culture, which is the main reason someone would holiday here. Korea is also quite expensive compared to places in Asia which have all these things and more.

The only reasons I can think of why someone would take a holiday in Korea is that it is a very unusual place and an unknown quantity, or they may be a Korean war buff.

[Derrek]

They were being nice to the courteous, friendly, and somewhat desperate student who probably asked them. Definately not honest.

[Sooke]

[bosintang]

I've met only *one* tourist, if we mean tourist in the purest sense of the word (not on business, or visiting family or friends). The guy was from Taiwan who worked for a Chinese airline and so got cheap tickets to come here. He confessed to me that he would never come back, for in his words, "there's just too many other places to see." He's right, of course.

But really, so what? Why would a relatively wealthy country like Korea care if it's not a tourist hub? Tourists are an annoyance anyways. Probably the best thing about living in Korea is that you *don't* see herds of tourists.

[Blind Willie]

[just because]

[dogbert]

Go to Myungdong at any time and marvel at the legion of Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese tourists.

[keithinkorea]

[animalbirdfish]