In a bid to raise Korea’s position to the top five convention destinations in the world from the current eighth, the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) have declared 2012 as Korea Convention Year. In keeping with this strategy, 2012 will see the KTO’s India office eyeing a major slice of Indian MICE outbound traffic as well as luring the Indian film industry for film shoots in Korea. According to Jae-Sang Lee, Director, KTO India Office, “In recognition of the enormous value of the meetings and convention industry, the Korean government has been nurturing and fostering the MICE sector as one of the strategic and new-growth industries. We shall be showcasing Korea as a perfect destination for MICE and film shoots in the coming year
.” The KTO will facilitate Film Tourism to Korea through a host of measures. Dr. Charles Lim, Deputy Director, KTO New Delhi said, “Film Tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. We realise the importance and the reach of the Indian film industry and plan to encourage Indian producers and studios to film in Korea. KTO can support producers by organising inspection tours to Korea. There are different organisations like the Korean Film Commission and the Korean Film Council to support film shoots in Korea, and we can introduce the Indian producers to these government bodies in order to avail subsidies.” KTO had organised a networking event with prominent people from the Indian corporate world, and the cinema and television industry, recently in Mumbai. Talking about the planned initiatives for promotions in India, Lim said, “We would be promoting the destination through road shows, advertisements, joint promotions, trade shows and familiarisation trips on a pan-India basis. We will be taking part in various trade fairs like IITM, TTF-OTM, SATTE, etc and organising road shows in conjunction with the trade fairs. In this way, the travel trade from Korea (delegation comprises government officials, travel agents and tour operators, DMCs and Convention Bureaus) gets an opportunity to interact with their Indian counterparts.”
Click here to see the original article>.” The KTO will facilitate Film Tourism to Korea through a host of measures. Dr. Charles Lim, Deputy Director, KTO New Delhi said, “Film Tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. We realise the importance and the reach of the Indian film industry and plan to encourage Indian producers and studios to film in Korea. KTO can support producers by organising inspection tours to Korea. There are different organisations like the Korean Film Commission and the Korean Film Council to support film shoots in Korea, and we can introduce the Indian producers to these government bodies in order to avail subsidies.” KTO had organised a networking event with prominent people from the Indian corporate world, and the cinema and television industry, recently in Mumbai. Talking about the planned initiatives for promotions in India, Lim said, “We would be promoting the destination through road shows, advertisements, joint promotions, trade shows and familiarisation trips on a pan-India basis. We will be taking part in various trade fairs like IITM, TTF-OTM, SATTE, etc and organising road shows in conjunction with the trade fairs. In this way, the travel trade from Korea (delegation comprises government officials, travel agents and tour operators, DMCs and Convention Bureaus) gets an opportunity to interact with their Indian counterparts.”