New books examine global travel trends

“It is sad that we cannot enjoy traveling as we please as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. We hope Koreans and tourists can travel freely in the near future, visiting the 100 Must-Visit Tourism Spots of Korea,” Choi Bo-guen, head of the Culture Ministry’s Tourism Policy Bureau, said. For more information about the 100 Must-Visit Tourism Spots of Korea, check the KTO’s official website at www.vis...

The highlight of the package is the yin yoga and aroma therapy offered on the first day of the package and a singing bowl meditation and sound therapy offered on the second day. Mayfield has invited yoga and meditation experts, Park Sang-a and Choi Ju-hyeon, of Yoga & More to lead the programs. Park, who will lead the yin yoga, is yoga trainer who has studied at India’s Mysuru for two years. Yin...

Enhance Demand for trips with those closest, such as families, couples and friends, increased. According to the comments made on travel-related posts on social media, users thought of their families, friends and pets. Mentions of package tours decreased in comparison to the year before. The decrease was interpreted to be a reflection of people’s anxiety in traveling with a large number of unspe...

South Korean tourism businesses that are suffering due to the pandemic will be eligible for additional loans from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. A total of 594 billion won ($546.57 million) will be provided in the form of additional loans, while repayment may be deferred for 100 billion won worth of loans that are due next year. “We made changes by actively reflecting various feed...

Customers complain about global platform operator’s refund policy

Stepping into the modern Seoul Station, South Korea’s central train station, one might wonder how far back the history of Korean trains and railroads goes. Only one hour from Seoul Station by subway, the Railroad Museum in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, offers a glimpse into more than 100 years of history of Korean trains and railroads. The museum is run by national railway operator Korail. In the ...

ROVANIEMI, Finland (AFP) -- In Finland’s snowy far north, international visitors normally flood the Santa Claus Village amusement park, in search of reindeer rides, snow castles and a meeting with the jolly man himself. Under the pandemic travel restrictions, however, crowds in the Lapland town of Rovaniemi have dwindled to just a trickle and the joyful winter wonderland feels ghostly and abando...

The annual Korea Travel Expo is being held online for the first time due to the pandemic situation until Tuesday. Around 120 organizations, including Korea Tourism Organization and local governments, are participating in the online expo hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and run by Tourism and Korea Tourism Association aimed at providing information on travel after the pandemic has gone a...

Wanju Gotgam Fesitval The annual Wanju Gotgam Fesitval is being held virtually this year, due to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wanju, a county in North Jeolla Province, is famous for gotgam, or dried persimmon. Wanju gotgam was presented to the royal court during the Joseon era. The county produces about 9,300 tons of gotgam every year. The annual festival draws about 30,000 visitors...

Anticipating arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, travel agencies launch new tour package deals, but limits exist

Imjingak Pyeonghwanuri Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is located about 7 kilometers south of the cease-fire line. Developed right after the South-North joint communique of 1972, the park has become a tourist spot. Relics with sorrow and pain from the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950 and confrontation between the two Koreas still exist there. A steam locomotive preserved and exhibit...

Indie Jeonju Festival Indie Jeonju Festival will be held online Dec. 25-27. The festival is titled “Still Alive” this year, according to organizers, aiming to show that Jeonju-based musicians are still living passionately, despite the monthslong blackout in the culture sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 15 music acts will take to the stage, performing a wide range of music, from p...

Separated from the notorious car and foot traffic of the Gangnam neighborhood, Kukkiwon sits on a small hill in a calm area filled with trees. Kukkiwon, a traditional-looking building with white columns, has been the heart of the Korean martial art of taekwondo for the past half century. The institution was established in November 1972 as the world headquarters of taekwondo. The same year, to c...

South Korea will host a meeting of an international organization for railway cooperation across Europe and Asia next year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Saturday. The 49th annual ministers' meeting of the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD) will be held in the country from June 15-18, 2021, according to the ministry. Founded in 1956, the OSJD coordinates ra...