South Korea Records More ASEAN Arrivals

Tourism cooperation between ASEAN and South Korea took a turn for the better in 2011, with the latter implementing measures that paved the way for more ASEAN arrivals. With South Korea’s visa system seen as a major obstacle to growing ASEAN arrivals, the destination’s authorities cut the number of supporting documents required, introduced double-entry and family-unit visas, relaxed conditions for multiple-entry visas and extended visa validity periods for travellers from  Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos from last April. As a result, 459,300 travellers from these markets visited South Korea between April and November last year, an improvement from the 555,012 arrivals in 2010. Cambodia registered the biggest growth (70.1 per cent), while the Philippines accounted for the lion’s share. Last year also saw the opening of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) offices in Hanoi and Jakarta. Another will open in Manila before June.