Branch Manager Kang is in charge of marketing Korean tourism to the Americas. This means she’s not just focusing on the central and western regions of the US, but also on Central and South America. Based out of LA, she is leveraging her location to connect effectively throughout the US, Canada and Latin America.
In her own words: “Los Angeles is a center for the large Hispanic community in the United States, and it’s also an area of rapid growth in the Chinese-American population. Our integrated approach focuses on tourism to Korea, as well as on sharing Korean culture.”
In fact, the LA office has its sights set on more than just simple tourism; it is working hard to bring MICE industry events and large cruise lines to Korea, too. MICE is an acronym that stands for “meetings, incentive tourism, conventions and exhibitions” and visitors in this sector spend on each trip an average of $3,592 per person. Because this is 2.4 times higher than that spent by ordinary tourists, Kang and her team are working hard to make this niche a focus of their efforts.
Branch Manager Kim explains her confidence in this strategy. She says, “Having hosted a series of international events, including the G20 Seoul Summit 2010 and the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Korea boasts an infrastructure well-suited to support MICE- margeted marketing. We are planning to promote our strengths actively to government organizations, NGOs and large companies around the world.”
On the other hand, it is fair to say that most Americans think of Korea as a distant destination since it takes more than 10 hours to get there by plane. That’s why Kang and her team in LA are working even harder to let people know that the trip is worth the extra effort. They are doing this by leveraging the recent Hallyu craze to share even more about Korean culture, including music, movies and food. Kang explains, “We’ve got all kinds of advantages to work with.
Just last year Psy and Gangnam Style were a huge hit. K-POP and Korean dramas are rapidly growing. Even Hyeon-Jin Ryu of the LA Dodgers is a point of attention as he pitches his way to stardom on the baseball diamond. In explaining about Korea, we used to have to introduce Korea to people before we could interest them in a visit; today, lots of people are receptive to our message since they’ve already heard so much about Korea and are curious to visit.”
Branch Manager Kang also has big plans for Jeju Island, a place with tourism resources and facilities on par even with Hawaii. There’s lots of potential here for making Jeju a tourist destination within mainstream America.
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