A group comprising expats in the country is promoting tourist attractions in Korea and their appeal.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on May 10 said it held an appointment ceremony for this year's K-Tourism Global Social Media Supporters jointly with the Korea Tourism Organization at Jeongdong 1928 Art Center in Seoul's Jung-gu District.
Launched in 2012, the program seeks to create and distribute fresh content promoting the appeal of domestic tourist attractions and culture from the perspective of expats.
With a competition rate of 6:1 this year, 201 members from 45 countries including the U.S., Japan, China and Thailand were selected.
They include Reina Tanaka, a Japanese college student whose YouTube videos of her life and travel in Korea have attracted over 10 million views, and Nancy Gonzalez, a Mexican majoring in minyo (folk songs) at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul.
Members for a year will visit famous attractions nationwide and serve as online supporters to promote domestic tourism through social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok as well as the supporters' official channel.
Their first mission is to produce content on the 10 tour courses around Cheong Wa Dae, an emerging tourist landmark, to showcase the appeal of tourism in the country.
Other activities include promoting to the world the tourism campaign "Visit Korea Year 2023."
"The importance of social media marketing is growing toward the world's Generation MZ (millennials and Generation Z), whose interest in traveling to Korea is due to K-Culture's influence," said Park Jongtaek, director-general of the ministry's Tourism Policy Bureau.
"As most of the reporters are foreign members of Generation MZ studying in Korea, we expect them to show the new appeal of K-Tourism from foreign perspectives."
