Recently, the Ministry of Tourism signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Government for the Republic of Korea, for strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism in New Delhi. KJ Alphons, Union Tourism Minister, and Do Jong-hwan, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sports, Republic of Korea, signed the MoU and officials from the Ministry and their counterparts from the Korean side were also present during the signing ceremony. The MoU was signed by two parties desiring to strengthen and further develop the established relationship for strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.
The main objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding are:
a) To expand bilateral cooperation in tourism sector
b) To increase Exchange of information and data related to tourism
c) To encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including Hotels and Tour Operators
d) To establish exchange programmes for cooperation in Human Resources Development
e) To encourage Investment in the Tourism and Hospitality sectors
f) To exchange visits of Tour Operators/Media/Opinion Makers for promotion of two way tourism
g) To exchange experience in the areas of promotion, marketing destination development and management
h) To encourage participation in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other’s country
i) To promote safe, honorable and sustainable tourism
The Republic of Korea is one of the leading tourists generating market for India from East Asia. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) from the Republic of Korea in 2017 were 1,42,383 and during January–September were 1,08,901 (provisional figure). The signing of MoU with Korea will be instrumental in increasing tourist arrivals from this source market.