Experience the Adventures of South Korea with NewJeans

The government of South Korea has appointed NewJeans, the popular K-pop girl group under HYBE Labels, as the country's latest honorary ambassadors to drive up the nation's inbound tourism. This is another step in the country's use of the 'Hallyu' wave to boost tourism.

Under the new collaboration, Korea Tourism Organisation, Imagine Your Korea, has released a new set of videos which showcases NewJeans guiding aspiring visitors on things to do and food to eat on their trip to South Korea. From recommending places to visit and historical monuments to see, to K-pop concerts and festivals to attend and cafes to hop to, the video is an alluring invitation to the land of K-pop and K-dramas.

In-Chon Yoo, cultural minister, South Korea, said that with NewJeans as the nation's tourism ambassadors, international arrivals are bound to soar further. NewJeans now joins the list of BTS, Cha Eun-Woo, Lee Jung-Jae, Son Heung-Min and other popular Korean celebrities in becoming honorary tourism ambassadors.

The Hallyu Wave

According to the ministry, the number of tourists the country witnesses has skyrocketed due to BTS and the subsequent Korean wave. In 2019, BTS attracted around 800,000 foreign tourists to the country; their three-day concert at Seoul Olympic Stadium alone called in 187,000 foreign visitors as well as generated around 922.9 billion KRW worth of economic impact for South Korea. In 2023, the country saw an influx of around 11 million visitors.

To capitalize on this, the government has been involving popular Korean celebrities in international campaigns, such as tourism campaigns and UN ambassadors. Further, to translate the interest in K-pop and K-dramas into tourism, the government has various plans, such as a digital nomad visa (introduced in January 2024), a digital ‘workation’ visa (for foreigners working remotely and living in Korea), short-term public transit passes, foreign languages on domestic apps, new international flight routes etc. With such moves, the government hopes to achieve its target of 30 million tourists visiting the country and $30 billion in tourism revenue by 2027.