TORONTO — Korea was a popular destination in 2014, with tourist arrivals showing yet another year of growth.

International arrivals were up 16.6% year over year with 14,199,947 total arrivals in 2014.  The 14 millionth tourist arrival was recorded at Cheongju International Airport on Dec. 29, a milestone for tourism to Korea.

Recently the KTO introduced a new tourism slogan, ‘Imagine your Korea’, to promote further growth in FIT travel to Korea. The trend is expected to continue as more and more travellers discover Korea on their own.

Canadian arrivals meanwhile continued their increase for a 10th consecutive year. The Canadian market showed a solid 9.8% growth in 2014, with 146,696 visitors.

Canada remains the third largest long-haul market for Korea.

Tourist arrivals to Korea are expected to continue through 2015 with the implementation of the Korea-Canada Free Trade Agreement (KCFTA). Building on this success, the increase in business travellers and other tourism exchange between the two countries, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  This new agreement will serve as the connection between the two nations to strengthen relationships and expand tourism market opportunities through mutual exchange of research.

“We will continue to work closely with our industry partners to promote more new packages, developing further niche markets as well as promoting stopovers,” said Doojo Kim, director of the Toronto office of the Korea Tourism Organization.