Dae Jang Geum

More Malaysians are heading to South Korea for vacation than ever before, drawn partly by the popularity of Korean television dramas here, a newspaper reported Monday.

About 10,000 tour packages to South Korea were sold in the first two days of a travel fair that started this weekend, compared to 6,500 packages sold at the last fair, the New Straits Times said, quoting the regional director of the Korean National Tourism Organization, Ham Kyung-joon.

Ham, who was not immediately available for comment, was quoted as saying that the popularity of at least two South Korean dramas, “Winter Sonata” and “Jewel in the Palace,” had much to do with the rush.

One of the most popular holidays being sold at the travel fair was a four-day package that includes stops at Gangwon and Gyeanggi provinces where the two series were filmed, he was quoted as saying.

“We find that including trips to film locations of popular drama series is an effective marketing tactic,” he said, adding that Malaysians are “captivated by the winter scenery shots.”

Tropical Malaysia has uniform weather throughout the year - humid, warm weather broken by rains.

The travel fair being held in Kuala Lumpur expects to achieve 80 million ringgit (US$21 million) in sales, organizing chairman Ngiam Foon said.

“Trips to North Asia are comparatively cheaper and there are attractive deals in the holiday packages to look forward to,” he was quoted as saying.

Source: MSN-Mainichi September 19, 2005

Malaysians are making a beeline for Korea and this could well be due to the popularity of drama series like Winter Sonata and Jewel in the Palace.

The sales of Korean tours in the second leg of the Matta Fair is nearly double that of the first leg held in March, and Korean National Tourism Organisation officials are confident that the two Korean drama series have much to do with this.

One of the main attractions is a four-day package which includes stops at Gangwon and Gyeanggi provinces where the two dramas were filmed.

In the RM1,600 package, tourists can even stay a night or two at these locations.

Korean National Tourism Organisation director for Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, Ham Kyung-Joon, said 10,000 tour packages to Korea were sold in the first two days of the fair compared to 6,500 at the first fair.

“We find that, including trips to film locations of popular drama series is an effective marketing tactic to increase the sales of Korean tours among Malaysians who are captivated by the winter scenery shots.”

He said his organisation, which is participating for the second time in the Matta Fair, could not afford to miss it. “It is the place to promote Korean tourism among Malaysians,” he said.

Matta Fair president and organising chairman Ngiam Foon said sales to Korea and other parts of North Asia during the fair have increased in the past few years.

“Trips to North Asia are comparatively cheaper and there are attractive deals in the holiday packages to look forward to,” he said.

He added, however, that domestic tours are still the most popular holiday packages among Malaysians.

In the first two days, more than 53,000 visitors thronged the fair held at the Putra World Trade Centre. At Press time, the number stood at 78,000.

“We are optimistic that we can achieve RM80 million in sales in this Matta Fair,” said Ngiam. He added that the final sales figure would only be known in about three to four weeks.

Entrepreneur Jamil Zainun and his wife, Azizah Ismail, are frequent visitors to the fair.

Through their visits, they have managed to grab deals that have taken them and their children to Egypt, Australia and Mecca. They came to the fair today to look for good deals to Turkey, which is their next holiday destination.

“We are particular about the packages we choose as we always look for one that would make us feel welcome at countries we want to visit,” said Jamil.

Source: New Straits Times by Rina De Silva 20th September 2005

Jewel in the Palace, Damo and Untold Scandal were filmed in the Korean Folk Village, a Mecca for the film industry for traditional dramas and movies in Korea.

The Korean Folk Village was constructed in 1974. It has 230 traditional buildings including an executive agency, school, hospital, temple, fortune-telling house, and an upper class residence with 99 cells. It takes about half a day to look around the whole village.

You can eat traditional food such as rice served in soup, grilled food, and rice wine in the market within the village. The market has appeared frequently in the drama Jewel in the Palace and the food shown in the drama is sold here. The soup, which contains rice (Gukbap) is made by boiling the bones of cows for four days.