S. KOREA'S TOURISM INDUSTRY REOPENS

[Anchor Lead]

As international air travel is slowly resuming, Korea's tourism sector is also starting to reopen. Some international flights are to be expanded, while preparations are underway to welcome foreign tourists to Korea.

[Pkg]

Most of the employees at this travel agency were laid off during the pandemic. But recently they are back at work, as the agency is receiving more inquiries and reservations for tour packages.

[Soundbite] "You want to know what regions are okay to visit now? Singapore is a safe place to travel to because of a travel bubble. We are also preparing packages to Thailand, Bali and Vietnam."

Regions that fully vaccinated people can visit without quarantine include North America, Guam, Saipan, some 20 European countries and the Middle East. Korean carriers are even considering expanding flights to Saipan, where local authorities provide funding for travel expenses.

[Soundbite] Yook Hyun-woo(Travel Agency) : "Currently our customers are mostly looking for trips to Guam, Saipan and Hawaii. Most of the high-demand packages among Koreans are those bound for Southeast Asia. Once that region reopens its borders, tourism will likely recover quickly."

This video featuring athlete Son Heung-min promotes tourism in Korea for foreigners. Early this month, representatives of large American travel agencies visited Korea despite the pandemic to discuss the development of joint tourism products with the Korean government. Interest in Korea has been soaring recently on the popularity of Kpop group BTS, the movie "Parasite" and the Netflix series "Squid Game."

[Soundbite] Joo Sang-yong(Korea Tourism Organization) : "We will develop attractive tourism products using Korean traditional games, like those in ‘Squid Game,’ as well as K-POP and movie sets."

The culture ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization have vowed to provide offices and a digital working environment to small and mid-sized travel agencies to normalize the tourism sector.