S. Korea aims to attract 10 mln foreign tourists this year

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea aims to attract 10 million foreign tourists for the first time this year by expanding its marketing efforts, the state-run tourism organization said Monday. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) forecast the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea could reach 9.6 million by the end of this year if no concerted efforts are taken during the coming months. It said more must be done to maintain the momentum of the past few months. Foreign tourists arriving in the country increased greatly in June and July for a gain of 10.8 percent and 16.8 percent on-year, respectively. Last month total arrivals topped 980,000, up 17 percent compared to the previous year and marking the first time ever that inbound tourists surpassed the 900,000 mark, the KTO said. It said efforts are underway to strengthen marketing campaigns and spend more in order to meet this year's 10 million target. The KTO plans to reinforce tourism marketing through the spread of Korean pop culture, also known as the "Korean Wave" or "Hallyu", while seeking to attract visitors from other countries besides Japan, it said. South Korea has recently seen more foreign tourists coming from China and Southeast Asia as they opted for Korea instead of Japan due to the rise of yen and the March earthquake, it added.