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Coach Park Hang Seo, head coach of the Vietnamese national football team, was appointed and officially launched as Seoul's global tourism ambassador on the evening of August 3rd in Ho Chi Minh City. With his outstanding successes with Vietnamese football, this is the second time Park Hang Seo has been chosen as an ambassador to promote Korean culture and tourism.
Previously, Mr. Park was also chosen by his hometown, Sancheong County, Gyeongsang Province, as an "image ambassador" tasked with promoting tourism, culture, history, and commerce for the local area.
Sharing his thoughts on his new role, Mr. Park Hang Seo said he would strive to continue bridging the cultural and tourism gap between the two countries. Mr. Park also demonstrated his popularity as a large number of Korean tourists at the hotel hosting the event surrounded him, asking for photos.
"Soulful Seoul Night" is a Seoul tourism promotion event organized by the city in the post-COVID-19 era. According to the 2021 survey on South Korea's tourism potential, Southeast Asia is considered one of the top important markets, with people in this region having the highest percentage of desire to travel to South Korea in the world.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism revenue from Southeast Asia generated a 60% growth rate for South Korea. Vietnam ranked seventh among countries with the highest number of tourists visiting South Korea, averaging approximately 550,000 visitors per year.
In particular, there is a high proportion of group tours, and tourists are interested in Korean beauty and fashion products and services. Mr. Oh Se Hoon, Mayor of Seoul, stated that with such potential, Vietnam is gradually gaining an important position and is considered a strategic market in Seoul's tourism promotion campaigns.
"We hope that cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul's tourism sectors will continue to develop and expand in the most positive direction. The selection of Mr. Park Hang Seo as Ho Chi Minh City's global tourism ambassador contributes to demonstrating and further strengthening the ties in tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries," Mayor Oh Se Hoon shared at the event.
Also on this occasion, nine South Korean tourism businesses from travel agencies, hotels, transportation, and entertainment services connected and exchanged information with leading tourism businesses in Ho Chi Minh City. The goal of the meeting was to move towards cooperation on content and packages for South Korean tourism, and to implement business promotion activities after the pandemic.
Lee Hye Jin, head of global marketing at the Seoul Tourism Organization, said Seoul is working to restore cooperation channels and tourism product distribution between South Korea and Vietnam to promote tourism development between the two countries after the pandemic, aiming to capture the regional market and further into the global tourism market.
