TORONTO — This weekend Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto included a Little Korea of sorts as part of the 39th edition of VegTO Fest.
The Korea Tourism Organization’s Encounter Korea Pavilion delighted all those in attendance during some beautiful end-of-summer weather.
KTO Director Jane Kim
There was a rice cake cutting ceremony, kimchi and bibimbap cooking workshops, a K-Pop dance championship, K-Pop dance lessons, a stamp challenge and, of course, plenty of vegan food vendors, all in an effort to promote Korea’s vegan friendly culture.
In fact, South Korea introduced a plant-based food policy, making it the second country in the world with a strategy to create a plant-based food system, Denmark being the first.
“South Korea has unique and authentic attractions centred around sustainable tourism, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and outdoor activities. The KTO partnered with VegTO Fest to showcase the traditional cultural attractions of Korea,” said Jane Kim, KTO Director.
Kim had an interesting response for the reason why the KTO decided to partner with VegTO Fest. “Vegetarians are many and tend to be, on average, slightly more educated with a higher financial level. Furthermore, they have more interest in culture, authentic experiences and sustainable tourism. It seemed advantageous to reveal Korean culture to vegetarians.”
Trips to South Korea by Canadian travellers have increased significantly recently. The KTO expects around 240,000 Canadian arrivals by the end of this year, which would be the biggest number ever. “The main reason for the increase, during the pandemic, Korean culture became very popular. BTS, K-Pop, K-Drama and the movie Parasite, as well as Korean food, became very popular with Canadians. South Korea is thought of by Canadian as an authentic destination that provides an excellent option in lieu of other popular Asian destinations like Japan, for example,” explained Kim.
There are now four Canadian cities that have direct routes to Korea, with a new flight route launched from Calgary in May and from Montreal in June. Prior to this, nonstops were only available from Toronto and Vancouver.
Moving forward, Kim had this message for advisors: “Korean tourism is progressing. Travel agents can now sell the country’s smaller destinations as well, not just the big cities. There are many other locales like Jeonju, Gangneung and Mokpo that have a great deal to offer. Please also consider the small cities for longer itineraries.”
To learn more about this destination, go to VisitKorea.or.kr.