It's Factual and Abstractual!

First draft of the abstract for Fukuoka... feel free to savage it...

International Tourism Opportunities in Korea:
Opportunities for Autocatalytic Emergence

The United Nations World Tourism Organization calculates that in 2003 International tourism accounted for roughly 6 per cent of exported international goods and services (as measured in U.S. Dollars). When focusing exclusively on service exports, this number jumps to an astounding 30 per cent.

The picture in Korea is not so rosy.

According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization, Korea’s tourism deficit not only continued to climb as Korea entered 2008, but it topped $10 billion (on an annual basis) in 2007. Korean travelers overseas spend $15.8 billion dollars while foreign visitors to Korea spent a mere $5.7 billion dollars. This problem is not a recent one, although its scope has dramatically increased (As recently as 2004, the deficit was a ‘mere’ $3.8 billion). Worse, Korea’s market share of Asian-Pacific tourism has been dropping. From 1990 to 2005 Korea was one of only three Asian Pacific countries to lose market share (Mongolia, which is statistically nonexistent, and Indonesia were the other states), going from 7.7% of the region to 4%.

This problem has not escaped the notice of Korean politicians, policy-makers, and those in the tourist-dependent industries. New Korean President Lee Myung-bak has promised, “We can no longer leave domestic tourism unattended. I will come up with measures to develop the tourism industry into a future growth engine of our economy.” These promises follow on several decades of similar promises that have been without successful issue.

This deficit is the result of a handful of historical and social realities. First and foremost, Korea has not forged an international brand. Attempts at branding have been inconsistent and ineffective, frequently having little or no impact on potential tourists. Part of the difficulty in effective branding stems from a deficit in, or perhaps a lack of, appropriate market research. Lacking understanding of what potential tourists desire, Koreans are consequently unable to develop campaigns, or even advertisements, that appeal to foreigners. The inconsistent nature of Korean branding has left Korea with no ‘image’ in the international community. In comparison to neighboring countries, Korea is an international unknown. Secondarily, Korea has not fully addressed its “paradox of globalization.” That is to say it has not fully reconciled its desire to extend itself to the entire globe with its sometimes contending desire to remain homogenous.
This paper will discuss some aspects of Korea’s historical inability to achieve appropriate international tourism results as well as the startling opportunities that this now leaves for Korea. With no existing international image, Korea finds itself in a rare position – it is first in line at its own palimpsest. Korea has an opportunity to create the initial conditions for the autocatalytic emergence of its own international tourist brand and success. Unusually, Korea has this opportunity at both the level of Gunn’s “organic” and “induced” images.

These opportunities are focused around 10 related initiatives that can be loosely grouped into three categories:

Branding

• Branding Korea.
• Defining Korea as a “new” or “trendy” destination.• Defining Korea as “different” but imaginable.
• Staying on single focus over time.
• Involving citizens of targeted countries in creating marketing materials.

Image Propagation

• Working with travel agents, travel magazines to take this message ‘home’ to overseas markets.
• Promoting Cultural Exchange at all levels of culture, not just the academic.
• Focusing on two kinds of tourists – Tour based tourists and ‘seekers’.

In-Country

• Creating a comfortable experience for international tourists who do visit Korea.
• Understanding that driving tourism is not just advertising hotels or destinations but is making a culture attractive.

By analyzing other tourist destinations (e.g. Hawaii and Japan) that have been successful at creating linked organic and induced images internationally, and applying the lessons learned, it should be possible for Korea to reverse the unfortunate trend in it’s balance of tourism.