CTC & Korea Tourism Organization sign MOU

The Canadian Tourism Commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Tourism Organization, the CTC announced today.

The new agreement, which was sealed Dec. 11 at CTC headquarters in Vancouver, BC, looks to broaden and deepen mutual understanding as well as strengthen co-operation between the two countries in the tourism marketplace. Other key areas will be swapping ideas around handling international events, product development, shared market intelligence and consumer trends.

The MOU comes hot on the heels of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement signed this past fall. The agreement—Canada’s first of its kind in Asia—is forecast to create thousands of Canadians jobs and boost the economy by $1.7 billion.

The South Korea tourism market has grown in strength during 2014. According to CTC’s latest Tourism Snapshot report, there was a 15.1 per cent rise in visitors to Canada in September. That surge continued the 2014 trend for the Asian market, which has seen 11.2 per cent more South Korean consumers make Canada their destination of choice.

CTC’s research shows that just under a third of South Korean travellers to Canada are younger than 25. Driven by a strong student sector, this is one of the highest percentages for that demographic among CTC’s key markets. Pleasure travel is the primary driver for South Korean consumers heading to Canada.