Korea Grand Sale Launches Nationwide for Foreign Tourists

The Korea Grand Sale, a shopping & tour festival organized by the Visit Korea Committee (chaired by Park Sam-koo), will be held from Friday, January 20th to Tuesday, February 28th to attract foreign tourists and boost domestic consumption in the winter season.

This year’s event, scheduled one year ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, will focus on promoting the Olympics and winter sports to foreigners. Ski resorts in Gangwon Province will provide discounts of up to 50% on ski lifts, gondola lifts, and equipment rental. And the Korea Grand Sale Event Center in Dongdaemun will offer foreign tourists a hands-on program of experiencing winter sports in virtual reality so that they may become more interested in the Olympics. In partnership with the 2017–2018 Visit Gangwon Year declared last December, the Visit Korea Committee will actively promote winter festivals in Gangwon Province, such as the Olympics Festival and Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, thus ensuring more visits to Gangwon Province by foreign tourists.

Major discounts offered under the Korea Grand Sale include flight and accommodation packages by Korean Air, up to 60% discount on flight tickets to China and Europe by Asiana Airlines, and up to 91% discount on international flights heading to Korea by Jeju Air. Shilla Stay will provide a 50% discount on rooms and a free upgrade into a deluxe room on a first-come, first-serve basis. Entrance tickets to N Seoul Tower will be available at a 30% discount, while The Face Shop and Lotte Hi-mart will offer “buy one, get one free” deals on popular products. Some other retailers participating in the shopping campaign are Grand Ambassador Seoul, All Mask Story, Galleria Duty Free 63, Doota Duty Free, Shinsegae Department Store, and Hyundai I’PARK Mall.

In addition, three event centers will operate to help tourists enjoy convenient shopping. Tourists can enjoy a variety of services, from interpretation and tourist information to free Wi-Fi and mobile phone charging, at the event centers in Dongdaemun and Myeong-dong. Also, various giveaway events will be held in front of Lotte Department Store’s main branch from January 20 to 31, which coincides with the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. And a mobile event center named “Tourist Service Center” will stay at a number of locations across Korea, including Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, Shinsegae Department Store in Myeong-dong, I’PARK Mall in Yongsan, and Sangsangmadang Hongdae.

In particular, the event centers have arranged Special Theme Weeks with a different theme for each week to allow foreign tourists to experience various aspects of Korean culture. Tourists will be given different gifts depending upon their purchase amounts during the Must-Buy Week, and they will have the opportunity to watch traditional plays, performances, and concerts during the Must-See Week. The Must-Do Week will feature virtual reality programs to enjoy skiing and bobsleigh. The Must-Eat Week will introduce thirty Korean dishes, specially developed by famous chefs such as Edward Kwon, Choi Hyun-seok and Kim Su-jin for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, and will hold a tasting event of popular Korean foods. The diverse events and promotions scheduled in these weeks are highly expected to heat up the festival.

The Korea Tour Card, a transportation card targeted at tourists, will be launched on the first day of the Korea Grand Sale. With the new card, tourists get a discount of up to 50% on the Hands-Free Service, which delivers and storages baggage between departments, hotels, the airport, and other main tourist points in Seoul for those wishing to shop and sightsee without their heavy bags.

Meanwhile, efforts will be made to encourage smaller, unknown restaurants, cafés, and mid-range hotels to participate in the festival. Google Korea, a member company of the Visit Korea Committee, will hold a digital marketing session on January 13 for owners of small and medium businesses to effectively market their products online. Rural villages will join by organizing cultural and leisure activities to attract foreign guests to their regions.

“This year’s Korea Grand Sale, scheduled a year ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, will feature various events related to the Olympics and winter sports,” remarked Secretary-General Han Kyung-ah of the Visit Korea Committee. “We will do our best to promote the beautiful winter of Korea as a means of ensuring that more foreign tourists are interested in the Olympics and thus visit Korea,” she added.