vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #164 / Business / Reading article...

Exports from Primorye have recently shown signs of increase. And the Korean National Tourist Organization sees promise in one particular export from Primorye: tourists.

Five South Korean tourist agencies and hotel representatives descended upon the Hyundai Hotel the night of March 23 to woo nearly a hundred of their Primorsky counterparts. The event, part of a nationwide campaign by the KNTO, was designed to showcase southern South Korea as a tourist destination for travel-hungry Russians.

“Tourist traffic from Russia is picking up as the economy picks up,” observed travel agent Kim Dae-Hong from the Seoul-based Dongjoo Air-Travel Company.

According to KNTO divisional director Ji Il-Hyun, nearly 140,000 tourists visited South Korea from Russia last year, slightly fewer than in previous years, but still placing Russia among the top five countries for South Korean tourism. Ji estimates that half the Russian tourists are from Primorsky Krai.

What makes Russians particularly popular in Korea is that they spend, on average, $1,300 more than tourists from other countries, said Ji. Up to 90 percent of Russian tourists are traders on “shop tours” buying goods to sell in Russia, he said. As South Korea slipped into economic turmoil in the latter part of last year, the $2.6 million that Russian tourists spent was much welcomed, Ji said.

Most Russian attendees were impressed with the exhibition, which featured meetings with tour representatives, as well as a slide presentation and a lavish sampling of South Korean cuisine.

“Of course, it was useful to meet with the tour agencies and the hotel representatives,” said Marianna Demidenko, supervisor at the Primorsky Club Travel Agency. “We were able to speak directly to the South Koreans, and find out for our ourselves what the country has to offer our tourists.”

Yevgeny Kurenoi, director of the eastern department of the Interregional Association of Independent Tour Operators of the Russian Far East, said that because of the exhibition, many of the Russian tour agencies would be able to foster closer, bilateral ties between their own companies and their South Korean counterparts.

“We will certainly be recommending South Korea as a place to visit to our tourists,” he said.