The Best Of Seoul Unveiled,
Special ‘G20' Guide To Follow
To tie in with November's forthcoming G-20 summit, the Seoul Convention Bureau has compiled a list of the city's must-see events and destinations that will soon be published into a guide designed to make life easier for the visiting civil servant in between official duties.
Dubbed "Seoul's G20: The Capital's Greatest 20 Experiences", the guide will also have much to offer the general stopover tourist, cutting out the guesswork as to the city's finest activities, entertainment and points of interest, and was compiled from the results of an online survey.
Project process : 1st expert advisory session → surveys of industry representatives → 2nd expert advisory session → surveys of Korean citizens and foreigners → final program selection
Among its findings, cultural shows such as "Nanta" were revealed to be the top experience, along with trips to the Namsan area and N Seoul Tower, health and wellness venues including Korean-style saunas, international events and cosmopolitan neighborhoods such as Itaewon, Korean cuisine and liquor (in particular rice wine favorite makgeolli), traditional markets, nightlife, shopping, and walking streets.
These were followed by art and design, the Han River, sports, mountain climbing and museums (in joint place), royal palaces, IT, family entertainment, hands-on cultural experiences, and Buddhism-related experiences. Korean cuisine popular with foreigners, meanwhile, included firm favorites bulgogi (barbecued beef) and bibimbap (rice roll). Worthy mentions included ddeokbukki (spicy rice cake), eomuki (fish cakes) and sundae (blood sausage).
The survey results showed that some foreign visitors are more knowledgeable about Korean cuisine, culture and places of interest than native residents of Seoul. With the Seoul Tourism Organization's ongoing efforts to create programs designed to give overseas visitors a full and comprehensive Seoul experience, it is hoped this will be a sign of things to come.
To produce a useful and detailed guide, content will be derived through the input of expert advisory panels and surveys of both locals and foreigners. Accessible through the SCB website (www.miceseoul.com), the guide will allow visitors to select recommended tourism programs as well as create customized tours to suit their needs and wishes. Its lifespan will extend beyond the signature G-20 summit through ongoing updates and improvements, integrating Seoul's extensive tourist and cultural assets with the MICE industry. With a launch date of June, the guide is expected to pick up where other travel guides have left off, providing concise, up-to-date content that celebrates the best Seoul has to offer for any meeting attendee and general tourist, just one of the city's many enhancement projects for the foreign visitor in 2010.
Contac t: Mi-jeong Park of the Seoul Convention Bureau ( mighty@seoulwelcome.com )
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