[HERALD INTERVIEW]`Sell Gangnam to promote Seoul`

It is a cookie-cutter itinerary. The majority of tourists, especially those coming from Japan, are taken to the most predictable destinations in Seoul. They include Cheonggyecheon stream, Gyeongbokgung Palace, N-Seoul Tower and Myeong-dong, all located in the northern part of Seoul.

Not only that, most of the government`s tourism plans are constrained to building more infrastructure and adding programs to the already crowded visiting spots in Gangbuk, the area north of the Han River.

"Although tours in general are becoming more personal with so-called free planning (itinerary), the choices offered by travel agencies are stuck in the same pattern as 10 years ago," said Yoo Kyung-dong, senior sales manager at the InterContinental Hotels in Samseong-dong in an interview with The Korea Herald.

After entering the hotel business in 1994, Yoo has been busy working behind the scenes to sell hotel rooms, and more importantly, to sell Gangnam to potential and returning tourists.

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"The most interesting factor of this constrained tourism market is that Gangnam is totally isolated or excluded. This means Gangnam has the potential that nobody bothered to foster," he said.

Yoo, 40, may officially represent just one hotel brand as a senior sales manager, but he is already quite a famous figure in the Gangnam area, as an avid promoter of the region, investing his private time to break the molds of conservative government officials and encouraging tourism-related businesses to stand on the vanguard.

"You can say that it has been a lonely fight (to foster tourism in Gangnam) for the past decade, and I sometimes wondered that maybe I am getting nowhere," Yoo said.

Yoo, who majored in Japanese language back in college, has spent most of his career at the sales promotion team, dealing mainly with his counterparts in Japan.

The first major obstacle to improving tourism is the structure of the tourism market between Korean sellers and Japanese buyers, he explained.

As it is a universal problem of the distribution structure among tourism-related businesses, Yoo explained that exchanges usually take on a system of "subcontracts."

"For instance, for every major Japanese travel agency that has the capability to send large groups of travelers to Korea, three to four smaller Korean travel agencies vie for the contract."

This leads to the chronic phenomenon of the agencies eventually competing against each other to offer the cheapest possible price, he said.

"That is also part of the reason why Korea`s major keyword for Japanese travel agencies is `cheapness.`"

Indeed, in Japan, the tourism brand of Korea is seriously undervalued, Yoo stressed.

"It has become a country for Japanese visitors to go when they want to fly overseas but with as little money as possible. It is extremely regretful that as a country that has such a rich neighbor only resorted to selling cheap products for a very long time," he said.

The second problem would be how little variation Korea has to offer, he said.

According to a recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 100 foreign nationals residing in Korea, 51 percent of them said they mainly toured around cultural assets, followed by 35 percent who visited major travel destinations outside Seoul such as Jeju and Gyeongju. Other responses included theme parks and golf courses (7 percent) and regional festivals and temple stays (6 percent).

"What we have to ask ourselves is does Seoul have a brand that can rival against Tokyo, Shanghai or Beijing. And that is why selling Gangnam is crucial," Yoo said.

"Think of it this way. Japan is one of the most coveted travel destinations for Koreans. Even those who have visited say, Tokyo, they choose to go again, perhaps this time to a different part of the city, because Japan offers variation," Yoo said.

Gangnam is a strategic solution to that, with its unique culture created by the rich and the young who have developed their own way of enjoying life.

"For instance, the phenomenon among Korean youths driving in their Mercedes to have soju at beaten-down pojangmacha (outdoor drinking cafe) in itself can be an interest-provoking brand that is unique only in Gangnam," Yoo added. "Not to mention hundreds of `crazy` young people swarming into COEX mall in Samseong-dong in the afternoon and going over to Apgujeong for drinks."

Yoo underscored that customers at present time do not want to go on stereotypical tours, but wish to try doing things that the locals do to have genuine experiences.

He said the most important brand of Seoul would be "the story of the people."

"We live in an era co-existed by grandparents who have survived through Japanese colonial period, as well as the middle-aged who lived through the turbulent democratic movements of the 1970s and 1980s. And then there are the new generations that are more accustomed to the comforts of life, and focused on creating their own trend," he said.

Reiterating that people are most interested in how people in other countries lived, Yoo also criticized the "uncreative" way of trying to improve tourism.

"Trillions of won are invested to build monumental buildings in order to enhance the brand of Seoul. Well, when we do build such a building, Tokyo and Shanghai will be building even higher ones," he said, adding that even the ugly grey buildings lined up along Han River are a brand representing the economic upheavals of modern history.

The good news is, after years of struggle, Yoo is finally seeing some fruit to his labor.

InterContinental Hotels has started in 2004 distributing a coupon book named "Passport" to Japanese customers, describing the history and story of each restaurant and places worth visiting, with discount coupons attached. Through this book, customers can have a sort of direction of where to go in Gangnam, he said.

From April, Gangnam-gu District Office and a major Japanese travel agency are set to start a so-called Gangnam shuttle bus service to offer more convenient tours around southern Seoul for travelers.

"About 2.5 million Japanese tourists came to Seoul last year. We can fill that number with ease this year as well, especially with the weak won against yen. But in order to go beyond this number, we need something new. For that, we need to start telling our story," he said.

By Lee Joo-hee



(angiely@heraldm.com