Dae Jang Geum

Series has brought not only laughter and tears to viewers worldwide but also heaps of tourist dollars to Korea.

At the first glance, I was surprised to see that our tour guide’s itinerary included a trip to a theme park devoted to the popular Korean drama series Dae Jang Geum. I shouldn’t have been, given the way hallyu ('’the Korean wave'’) has been sweeping the world. Although the weather was freezing, the set of the country’s hottest television drama series, shot by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in Yangjoo City, was packed with tourists from different parts of the world.

The souvenir shop and the kitchen where two chefs demonstrate recipes for ancient desserts and sweets are among the major attractions at the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation set in Yangjoo City.

From the front entrance, posters of Lee Young-ae and Ji Jin-hee, the show’s two lead characters, were everywhere.

Sets - the doorway to the palace, the summer house, the Queen Mother’s court, the prison, the library, the kitchen and the fermentation room - have been kept the way they were, since the South Korean government purchased the site and turned it into a major attraction.

Tourists can also walk through the field where almost 200 rooms once stood. Most had information boards, which explained what they used to be, and what they were used for during the Chosun Dynasty. Tourists could even play court games and try on the traditional royal costumes for snapshots.

As with many other tourist attractions, there was also souvenir shop selling the usual kinds of knick-knacks - keychains, necklaces and bracelets, books, magazines, photo collections, DVDs, drinking glasses and even refrigerator magnets - bearing the images of the show’s stars.

Next to it, there was a kitchen where two chefs, dressed in traditional royal Korean costumes, demonstrated recipes for ancient desserts and sweets.

Chatting with tour guides from Avenue Inter Travel Group, I found out that the set for Dae Jang Geum was not the only place to have been made famous through a film or TV series. It has many antecedents that have also generated a lot of Thai interest.

The location of the drama Winter Love Song (aka Winter Sonata) in Nami Island; the beautiful, trendy residential area of Full House in the Gwangyeok-si area of Incheon City and the beautiful lagoon of Hwajinpo; and the nostalgic Abai Village in Autumn in My Heart have also become popular destinations on tour itineraries.

The successful export of all this Korean culture has created hallyu fever, that is ‘’all things associated with Korea'’, which has expanded tourist revenue for South Korea.

According to the MBC’s ticket officers, the theme park welcomes 800 tourists a day, while numbers go as high as 1,500 to 2,500 on weekends.

The entrance fee is 5,000 won (198 baht) for an adult and 3,000 won for a child. Many nationalities visit the theme park, from Koreans themselves to Chinese, Japanese and Thai with the odd European and Westerner too.

According to Wisoot Phianphat, a sales manager at Avenue Inter Travel Group, the number of Thai tourists visiting South Korea doubled after the launch of the Korean TV series a few years ago.

Somchai Chomraka, the vice-president of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA), said the number of Thai tour groups travelling to South Korea had almost doubled in recent years.

In the past, Korea drew only about 5% of Thai outbound travellers, compared with top-ranked Hong Kong and Singapore, which accounted for 25% each.

But over the past two years the tables have turned. China now tops the must-visit list for Thais, at 35% to 40% of all overseas trips, followed by Korea (20% to 25%), while Hong Kong and Singapore have slipped to 15%.

Korea’s success was due to good tourist promotion from the South Korean government, Mr Somchai said.

South Korea, the second most heavily affected country by the 1997-98 crisis after Thailand, realised it needed creative new ways to generate revenue for the country, and one was to aggressively promote tourism, he added.

The Seoul government has spent vast sums on advertising and public relations to promote its culture, food, fashion and destinations. Korean films and TV series have been in the forefront.

Incentives or bonuses have also been offered to Thai tour operators for promoting the country.

‘’The South Korean government has implemented a full range of intensive marketing strategies that have proved very effective, and could be an excellent example for Thailand,'’ Mr Somchai said.

However, he admitted that it would not be easy for Thailand to follow pace. Lack of sufficient promotional budget and experienced staff proved obstacles, he said.

‘’Also, the Tourism and Sport Ministry still lacks the independence needed to take aggressive and quick moves to counter the fierce competition in tourism industry,'’ he added.

Although passing through immigration in South Korea may still prove a problem, he believes that the country’s cultural exports through drama and film should continue to have a strong impact for years to come - as long as people still enjoy spending time flipping through their television channels

Source: Bangkok Post 15 Apr 2006