Record year for tourism in Korea
The Korea Tourism Organization says 2014 has been a record year for international arrivals.
The agency said a new record was reached last week with 14 million visits recorded in 2014.
That represents a 16% increase on a year ago and is the highest annual growth for a decade, in part fuelled by the increasing influence of K-Pop globally.
The agency has targeted 20 million tourists by 2017, with its largest market China the main focus.
"We plan to enhance the standards of Chinese guides to address the rise in Chinese tourists, and improve services at travel agencies that deal with Chinese visitors," KTO said.
KTO said there was a spike in Chinese visitors during the National Day holiday in October, contributing to almost six million Chinese tourists during the year.
Japan is the second largest market for Korean tourism, followed by the US.
Tourism officials also said there was significant growth in tourists from Hong Kong, Thailand and Russia during 2014.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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