January    25,   2001          

Even in the coldest periods of winter, when a message of the arrival of a house guest was delivered, everyone in the house began tidying up. They would sweep the front yard, and dust and polish the snow covered soy sauce crocks in the back yard. Every nook and corner of the house would be cleaned. And the path leading from the gate, across the garden to the guest room would be cleared of tree branches lest they get in the way of the guest. Koreans have traditionally regarded it a great pleasure and virtue to receive guests wholeheartedly and serve them with good food even when they had no food left for themselves.

Now, this year, Visit Korea Year, Koreans have invited the whole world. And we would like to check if everything is ready. Today, in Welcome to Korea, we are going to find out the problems in receiving foreign tourists.

If you are a member of a tourist group, you will have no problem because as soon as you come out of the airport terminal you will have a chartered bus waiting for you outside. But if you are on your own and visiting Korea for the first time, you will no doubt be perplexed.

It's a strange country, you can't communicate with the people freely, and you are not familiar with the nation. Everything is uncomfortable and uneasy in a different nation. You may have received a brochure and a map of the city at the information desk, but since it's your first day in Korea, you will probably decide to use a taxi. The next thing question is, 'will I be able to communicate with the driver?'

The first person a foreign tourist most probably gets in touch with in Korea is a taxi driver. It's true foreigners haven't had good impressions of Korean taxi drivers. Some drivers refuse to drive you to your destination saying the traffic is bad there and some even charge higher fares. Many of the foreign visitors to Korea have pointed to taxis as the most inconvenient part of their tour.

It's no surprise that a Japanese tour guide book published in Japan warned that 'if there are pickpockets in Italy, there are taxi drivers in Korea. The Korean taxis are dangerous and unkind. Never quarrel with them even if you feel offended.'

Many efforts have so far been made, however, to improve the service quality of the taxis in Korea. Korean taxis have also introduced a free interpretation service via cellular phones. It's only a little improvement, but it's certainly changing the visitors' first impression of Korea.

You may have made a good start with a taxi. But at the old royal palace of the Choson dynasty, which you chose as your first itinerary on your tour of Seoul, you may be disappointed. You understand Seoul, the capital of Korea, is an old city with more than a six hundred year history, but you find many parts of the palace compound under repair work. Also, there are English versions of the information boards which explain what each of the relics are about, but you find them hard to understand. Mr. Kang Im-sang, the director of a civic organization called 'The palace keepers' a group to help foreigners tour palaces, point out various problems.

"Many foreigners point out that the English explanation on the sign posts that explain each of the cultural properties in the palaces are rather hard to understand. Also, there are only pavilions in some of the palaces, and no furnishings inside them to help understand what those pavilions were used for. Take for example, China, they have furnished each of the palace pavilions with the replicas of relics to help the tourists understand. More importantly, we lack volunteers or experts to explain the historic and artistic meaning of each of the monuments and pavilions."

Ancient palaces can leaver deeper impressions if kind and detailed explanations of the architectural and historic details of each of the pavilions are given. A little more consideration would double the value of each of the relics. Especially for foreigners who meet the history and culture of a totally different nation through limited materials and guides, language is an important means to understand another world. What efforts are being made to solve such problems? Let's invite Mr. Kim Hwang-tak at the organizing committee of 2001 Visit Korea Year to explain.

"We are running a tour guide system that covers the entire nation. We have about 8600 volunteers working for our system. The volunteers speak English, Japanese, or Chinese and are working as guides at tour information desks across the nation. There are many guides ready for service in the National Museum of Korea, the tourist complexes in Kyongju, and Cheju Jung-mun tourist zone, and others. In the case of Kyongbokgung palace, we have guided tours for the palace complex every half hour. We plan to expand such services in Cheju and Kyongju as well."

Tourists are attracted to the beautiful natural sceneries and the rich cultural traditions of Korea, but they also want to go out into the streets to experience the everyday lives of Koreans.

Many find it especially attractive to eat various foods at conventional market places, to buy things in the Hwang-hak-dong antique and general stores, or to eat raw fish prepared just in front of them in the Noryangjin Fisheries Market.

But for them to reach and experience the lives of Koreans instead of famous tourist spots, they overcome various difficulties.

"The fact that I can't speak English, that I don't know Korean, and can't understand the Korean signboards make it most difficult for me. I would be able to understand them easier if the signboards had Chinese characters on them."

45 percent of foreign tourists to Korea are Japanese and Chinese tourists take up the third largest number. However, there are no Chinese characters on the sign boards or road signs on the streets.

During cold winter days, you may find Chinese and Japanese tourists out on the cold streets for hours and hours figuring out their whereabouts on the map. In the meanwhile Koreans, just pass them by. Dr. Kim Dok-gi at the Korea Tourism Research Institute says the indifference of Koreans could bring about a grave misunderstanding.

"The reason Koreans appear unkind to foreign visitors is mainly because of the language barrier. Koreans tend to avoid foreigners because they find it embarrassing when they can't communicate with the foreigners in English. They just say nothing and walk away. It's not because they are unkind or rude. What I would like to tell Koreans is that they don't need to be embarrassed about not being able to speak English. If they can't communicate with the foreigners, they can use body language or can at least take the foreigners to someone who speaks the language. I think it's important they maintain active and positive attitudes in helping foreign tourists."

France and China are noted for their delicious and diverse dishes. Hundreds and thousands of tourists visit those countries every year to try their food. But prices are very different between France and China. Prices in China though they too have excellent food, are half of those of France. Why such a big difference? In France, the restaurants are equipped with quality food to please the palate, great decorations to please the eyes, good music to please the ears, and a scent to refresh the nose. Added to the cozy atmosphere of the restaurants, is the good service of the kind waiters, maximizing the pleasure of all the senses.

Korean citizens who are aware of those facts, have begun a campaign to be active and spontaneous in helping tourists. We took notice of the activities of the group 'Koree.' Here is a member to speak about Koree's activities.

"Koree is a campaign to receive foreign tourists kindly and warmly. So far, the government and the local offices were in charge of that task. Rather than leaving the whole task to the government, we thought we should also take part in it. Foreigners are not aware who among those on the streets or in the subways, can speak English or Japanese. Our activities are to solve such problems. 'Koree' is a kind of sign. If they see anyone wearing a cap or T-shirts with the 'Koree' sign, they will know that, that person will be able to give them help. They can ask for help or we will actively find those in need of help."

Every Saturday and Sunday in Insadong, downtown Seoul, people can meet the members of 'Koree' clad in traditional Korean police costumes, explaining the Korean culture to foreign tourists, and directing those who are lost.

They stand shoulder to shoulder with the foreign tourists and see what problems the tourists have through their eyes. Ms. Cho Yoon-hee and her husband Mr. O Chang-dok who are both members of 'Koree' tell us about them.

"It seems foreigners are most surprised by the fact that Koreans are reluctant to say 'they are sorry' as they push their way in crowded areas. Also, it seems there are many cases in which they can't use their credit cards because their cards didn't fit the machines here."

"It was tourists from Southeast Asian nations. Rather than the inconveniences, it had to do with the attitudes of the Korean people. They were upset that Koreans were rather unkind to those from Asian nations."

Koreans have pointed to the infrastructure as a problem in tourism in Korea. Much of the infrastructure of tourism needs to be improved like public transportation which foreigners can conveniently make use of, faithful guide information and system, clean lodging facilities; from high-class hotels to reasonably priced inns equipped with clean toilets, shower facilities and laundered cotton sheets. But more important than those is the warmness of the people.

Even without excellent natural sceneries, and without enough tourism infrastructure, a nation can lure many tourists from the world over, if all the people receive the tourists warmly, and provide a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere