With more and more foreigners coming back to visit Korea again.... what are some of their favorite tourist spots here in Seoul?
Seo Bo-bin tells us more. Foreign tourists to Seoul have selected the shopping district of Myeongdong and Seoul's palaces are their top places to visit in the capital.
According to research by the Korea Tourism Organization, out of the tourists who visited Korea in 2017, Chinese and Japanese tourists favored Myeongdong with 30 percent choosing it as their top place to visit, followed by Dongdaemun market. American and European tourists favored the palaces with 20 percent choosing this as their top place.
The main reasons given for visiting Seoul were shopping and visiting historic and cultural heritage sites. And the main shopping items for Chinese tourists were perfume and cosmetics. Other tourists said clothing was the main thing they shopped for in Seoul.
Over 50 percent of tourists from the U.S., Europe and Asian countries other than Japan and China had visited Korea just once, whereas 51 percent of Japanese tourists had visited Seoul more than 4 times.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said tourists' image of Korea became more positive after their visit, with positive views of Korea increasing from 77 percent to 97 percent, and that Seoul tourism is helping develop Korea's brand.
Seo Bo-bin, Arirang News.
