TORONTO — Canadian arrivals to Korea were up 20.3% in 2016 over 2015, for a total of 175,443 Canadian visitors. Overall international tourist arrivals to Korea reached a new record of 17 million visitors last year, exceeding the last record of 14 million visitors set in 2014.

“I am pleased to see that Korea remains a hot tourism destination in 2016,” said John Hyungkwan Park, Director of the Korea Tourism Organization Toronto Office.

The destination is benefitting from more lift: Air Canada began its daily nonstop service between Toronto and Seoul in June 2016; that same month, Korean Air launched daily nonstop flights between the two cities.

Stopovers and FIT travel are fuelling tourism gains along with the development of various niche tourism products, such as Korean beauty, wellness, medical tourism, Korean wave and MC&IT. “We hope to attract different groups of travellers to visit Korea to enjoy the country in different ways,” said Park. The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games are about one year away and represent an ideal opportunity to introduce cities beyond Seoul, he added.

He said he expects 2017 will be another banner year with the support of the industry. “We certainly appreciate our industry partners for all their efforts in promoting Korea. We will continue to work closely with all the partners and develop more new tourism spots and packages for the Canadian market.”

The first round of the 2017 Korea Grand Sale will be taking place Jan. 20 – Feb. 28 throughout the country. The Korea Grand Sale has been held every winter since 2011 and became a representative shopping tourism festival.

Visitors will find exclusive discounts on shopping, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, beauty & health, food & beverage and more. In conjunction with the ‘2017-2018 Gangwon Visit Year’, participating ski resorts will offer special discount on service and rental fees as well. See visitkorea.or.kr.