Both countries will drive destination and product awareness through marketing and promotional activities.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to co-promote both destinations, develop tech solutions to benefit respective industries, and boost bilateral tourism.
Under this partnership, KTO and STB work towards capturing pent-up tourism demand as international travel gradually resumes. That includes a new cartoon series, featuring the character “Hojong” from KTO’s set of mascots Kingdom Friends and STB’s “Merli”, which will be officially launched following a successful pilot social media event in April 2021. This video campaign will see both characters coming together to introduce attractions from their respective countries.
Both organisations will also support tourism start-ups to develop technologies that will benefit the tourism sector. For example, STB will support Korean start-ups through the Singapore Tourism Acceleratorprogramme to develop quality solutions and pilot them within Singapore’s tourism industry.
Fully vaccinated travellers who meet the requirements can now travel between Singapore and South Korea without quarantine under the new Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL).
To kick off this partnership, KTO and STB will progressively launch familiarisation trips for trade and media partners to promote safe travel between both destinations under the VTL.
Ahn Young Bae, President of, Korea Tourism Organization, said, “It is especially meaningful to sign this MOU on the same day as the launch of the VTL between South Korea and Singapore. I am optimistic that this MOU will play a key role in reviving tourism between both countries, and we are excited to welcome more Singapore travellers to South Korea.”
Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said, “South Korea is a key source market for Singapore, and as international travel gradually resumes, we look forward to welcoming South Korean visitors back. We are confident that this partnership with KTO will drive awareness of Singapore’s new and reimagined offerings, expand the capabilities of our industry, and support the overall recovery of our tourism sector.”
The partnership reflects STB’s continued efforts to raise the attractiveness of Singapore to South Korean travellers. Last year, STB and Studio Dragon Corporation signed a three-year partnership to promote Singapore as a destination in South Korea through the production of Korean dramas in Singapore.
South Korea is an important visitor source market for Singapore, ranking ninth out of 15 top visitor source markets in 2019. Singapore received about 646,000 South Koreans in 2019, a three per cent increase over 2018.
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