Two years ago, 54 million out of China¡¯s total population of 1.3 billion traveled abroad. In order to get more of them to visit Korea, we need to put up more signs written in simplified Chinese characters and pay more attention to developing unique souvenirs for each tourist attraction, instead of the generic range of products available now.
But the most important thing is ÀÎÅͳÝÄ« Áö³ë(www.wcct981.ch.vc) to tackle tourist traps that rip off foreigners. The Chosun Ilbo recently reported that one Japanese tourist ended up paying W50,000 (US$1=W1,132) for a kimchi pancake and two bottles of beer from a street vendor in the downtown Namdaeum market. The regular price would have been W16,000.
Service centers run by Korea Tourism Organization received 750 complaints in 2010, and rip-offs topped the list. Among 37 complaints about restaurants, 19 involved different prices being displayed on menus in Japanese and Korean, and grievances from Chinese tourists who were charged W10,000 for an extra bowl of rice. One driver charged a group of Japanese tourists W330,000 for the 2 km ride from Dongdaemun to Chungmuro.