Travel Trade Show

[Anchor Lead]

This year's ITB Berlin, one of the world's leading travel trade shows, has opened. South Korea focuses on actively promoting tours to the Demilitarized Zone amid thawing relations between the two Koreas.

[Pkg]

South Korea's booth is crowded with foreigners who are up for trying Korean cuisine. Participants from other countries, dressed in their own traditional attire, line up to taste classic Korean dishes like bibimbap, bulgogi and kimchi.

[Soundbite] (Zimbabwean Visitor) : "Oh, it's so delicious."

Many visitors inquire about tours to the Demilitarized Zone. They appear interested in programs to watch animals and plants that inhabit the unpolluted natural environment in the DMZ.

[Soundbite] (German Visitor) : "There is a wide range of animals and plants there. They are great and I want to see all of them."

A council promoting tours to the DMZ was launched last September by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization as well as local governments of 13 regions located near the inter-Korean border. The organization is introducing a variety of tours and first-hand experience programs. Amidst the unsuccessful second summit between North Korea and the U.S. and tough sanctions against Pyongyang still in place, the challenge now is to create realistic ways to boost exchanges with the North.

[Soundbite] Ahn Young-bae(President, Korea Tourism Organization) : "With their globally competitive edge, peace-themed tours and programs can become a brand if inter-Korean exchanges are made full scale and cross-border tours are promoted."

A Vietnamese travel agency attracted public attention by operating a booth promoting tours to North Korea.