-
South Korea is spell-checking its tourism signposts for errors
DestinationsNationwide research into travel signposts aimed at correcting misspellings and inaccurate information will begin later this month, the first such project covering over 16,000 travel information signs and boards in both Korean and foreign languages, South Korea’s Culture Ministry said Tuesday. “Based on our guideline on foreign-language travel signs, a research team will look for [...]
-
Best travel videos this week: Go somewhere interesting
DestinationsThis is our best travel video roundup yet! We have heavy-hitters Priceline, Expedia, and Psy leading the way with Delhi Airport and Ohio amusement park Cedar Fair pulling up the rear. With summer travel heating up, tourism organization, airlines, and hotel groups are looking to go viral online and get their brand name or message [...]
-
First look at Psy’s tourism ads for South Korea
DestinationsPsy was the natural choice when the Korea Tourism Organization looked for a new face to promote South Korea overseas. The YouTube phenomenon now stars in a series of six “Wiki Korea” TV ads that started airing overseas this week. Each of the 15-second ads teaches viewers a new Korean word meant to highlight the country’s culture. [...]
-
Psy makes a tourism ad for South Korea: Gangnam Style and beyond
DestinationsThe Korean Tourism Organisation has enrolled the help of South Korean pop star PSY, of Gangnam Style fame. The Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) will feature the singer in a new video series next month to promote tourism to South Korea. The series titled “PSY’s Wiki Korea”, inspired by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has the South [...]
-
North Korea still letting tourists & athletes in, despite warmongering
DestinationsDespite North Korea’s warnings that the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula is so high it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign residents, it literally trotted out athletes from around the world on Sunday for a marathon through the streets of its capital — suggesting its concerns of an imminent military crisis might not [...]
-
Korean resort destination empties as tension builds between North and South
DestinationsEndless stretches of beach and lush forested hills long made a small South Korean border town the traditional playground of the elite in divided North and South Korea. Now it struggles to attract tourists, partly under the weight of hostilities hurled across the militarized border a few kilometers away coupled with no realistic prospect of [...]
-
North Korea warns tourists to leave South Korea for safety as tensions grow
DestinationsNorth Korea has warned foreigners to leave South Korea immediately to avoid being hurt in the event of nuclear war. The latest threat of conflict was issued via the state-sponsored KCNA news agency and comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula grow by the day. “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea [...]
-
The rise of the aerotropolis: International cities and business hubs built around airports
TransportWhat is an aerotropolis? At its simplest, it’s a city built around an airport. Instead of sticking an airport on the outskirts of an existing city, building a city around the airport allows for faster movement of goods and people. And as Greg Lindsay, co-author of “Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next,” argues, in the [...]
-
K-Pop drove tourists to Gangnam for years before Psy made it a worldwide destination
Destinations“Gangland style is about Seoul’s criminal underworld,” one friend informed me with grave authority. “There’s a video?” another asked – she believed the dance was something her Zumba instructor had come up with. Wherever you heard it or whatever you think it means, in 2012, Gangnam Style – the annoyingly catchy song with the silly [...]
-
Who’s hopping on the Gangnam Style bandwagon to boost tourism? Not just South Korea
TransportThe Korean Tourism Organization must have started salivating as they watched Psy’s YouTube phenomenon reach hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. The most-viewed video on YouTube has been watched over 834 million times, which looks a lot like dollar signs when you’re sitting on the board responsible for driving tourists to South Korea. [...]
