Koreans tend to show greater hospitality to Western tourists than to their Asian neighbors, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said yesterday.

The institute`s latest survey of 5,822 inbound tourists from 16 countries during the first half of 2009 revealed a disparity in satisfaction between visitors from the West and visitors from Asian countries.

The survey showed that among visitors from Western nations Germans and French tourists topped the satisfaction barometer with 79.7 percent and 77.9 percent, noting that "Koreans are friendly." Tourists from the United Kingdom (77.1 percent), North America (73 percent), and Australia (71.4 percent) followed, showing the majority of Western tourists that visited Korea felt Koreans were hospitable.



In contrast, tourists from Taiwan (32.8 percent), Thailand (48.9 percent), Japan (48.6 percent) and Hong Kong/Singapore (44.5 percent) universally gave Korea a low rating in hospitality, which suggests Koreans are selective when it comes to hospitality towards foreign visitors.

While Western tourists vaguely singled-out "friendliness" as the most memorable part of their trip, Asian tourists were more specific with focused interests. Japanese tourists chose Korean cuisine as the most attractive, with Thai tourists noting the "unique cultural assets of Korea," Taiwanese tourists pointed out the "clean streets," and those from Hong Kong singled out the "shopping environment" as memorable factors of their visit to Korea.

The survey also revealed that Korea is attractive for budget travelers and those interested in shopping.

Of all the survey participants, 54.9 percent said they visited Korea to shop and 43.2 percent said the currency exchange rate and low travel expenses were reasons they chose Korea as a travel destination.

According to the Korea Tourism and Culture Institute, "hospitality is an important factor in getting previous visitors to come back" and added, "we would like to see hospitality spread to all foreign visitors."

(kws@heraldm.com)



By Song Woong-ki