Wulingyuan receives nearly 180,000 South Korean visitors
On September 18, in the Baofeng Lake Scenic Area of Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie, where the rain was pouring, brightly dressed Korean tourists came one after another. According to Zhangjiajie’s “Yichengtong” tourism management system, as of September 17, Wulingyuan, the core scenic spot in Zhangjiajie, has received nearly 180,000 Korean group tourists this year, an increase of nearly 30% year-on-year, accounting for 70% of the overseas tourists in the core scenic spot. The top five overseas tourist destinations in Wulingyuan, the core scenic area of Zhangjiajie, are South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Since 2001, South Korea has consistently ranked first in Zhangjiajie’s overseas tourist source market. In order to further consolidate and expand the Korean tourist source market, Zhangjiajie organizes a series of tourism promotion and exchange activities in South Korea every year, and increases the density of direct charter flights between the two places. With the help of convenient air transportation, some major international travel agencies in Zhangjiajie actively invite key Korean travel agents and mainstream media to visit Zhangjiajie. Since this year, more than 300 Korean travel agents and media have visited Wulingyuan Scenic Area. At the same time, Zhangjiajie tourism routes and products are re-promoted and packaged into the Korean market by leveraging policies such as "55% off" off-season tickets for Wulingyuan core scenic spots, ordinary tickets valid for four days, and annual tickets available for 298 yuan.
Korean-style services and dining implemented for reception
Providing good landing reception services is also an important factor in making Zhangjiajie the first choice for Korean tourists to travel. In Wulingyuan District, some hotels that receive Korean guests are specially equipped with Korean-style telephones and Korean-speaking waiters. In response to the eating habits of Korean guests, several authentic Korean restaurants have also been opened. Baofeng Lake, Huanglong Cave and other scenic spots have also launched "exclusive tour" services for Korean groups, and the Zhangjiajie Global Geopark Museum has also opened a Korean 5D movie theater.
A senior tourism person in Zhangjiajie City said that although the Korean tourists entering Zhangjiajie are currently mainly middle-aged and elderly tourists, as Zhangjiajie continues to expand its expansion in South Korea, the number of young Korean tourists entering Zhangjiajie will continue to increase in the future. From August 12 to 16, when Zhangjiajie Municipal Party Committee Secretary Yang Guangrong led a tourism promotion delegation to visit South Korea, Choi Hyun-suk, president of Hana Tour Korea, said that in the next five years they will focus on developing new Zhangjiajie tourism products to leverage the Korean young and middle-aged tourist market.