| Koreans friendlier to Western tourists |
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한국인은 서양인에게만 친절하다?
한국문화관광연구원의 발표에 의하면 한국인들은 이웃나라의 동양인들보다 서양인들에게 더 친절을 베푸는 경향이 있다.
올 상반기에 방한한 16개국, 5천822명의 외국인을 설문조사한 결과에 따르면 독일 출신 관광객은 79.7%가 '한국 사람들이 친절하다'고 답해 만족도가 가장 높았고 프랑스인이 77.9%로 그 뒤를 이었다.
또 영국인의 77.1%, 캐나다인의 73.2%, 미국인의 73.1%, 호주인의 71.4%는 한국인이 친절하다고 평가하는 등 서구권 국가 사람들은 대체로 한국인의 친절에 대한 만족도가 높았다.
반면 대만 사람은 같은 대답이 32.8%에, 홍콩.싱가포르인은 44.5%, 일본인은 48.6%, 태국인은 48.9%로 나타나 아시아권 관광객들은 한국인의 친절 정도를 상대적으로 낮게 평가했다.
Koreans tend to show greater hospitality to Western tourists than to their Asian neighbors, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said yesterday.
The institute's latest survey of 5,822 inbound tourists from 16 countries during the first half of 2009 revealed a disparity in satisfaction between visitors from the West and visitors from Asian countries.
The survey showed that among visitors from Western nations Germans and French tourists topped the satisfaction barometer with 79.7 percent and 77.9 percent, noting that "Koreans are friendly." Tourists from the United Kingdom (77.1 percent), North America (73 percent), and Australia (71.4 percent) followed, showing the majority of Western tourists that visited Korea felt Koreans were hospitable.
In contrast, tourists from Taiwan (32.8 percent), Thailand (48.9 percent), Japan (48.6 percent) and Hong Kong/Singapore (44.5 percent) universally gave Korea a low rating in hospitality, which suggests Koreans are selective when it comes to hospitality towards foreign visitors.
While Western tourists vaguely singled-out "friendliness" as the most memorable part of their trip, Asian tourists were more specific with focused interests. Japanese tourists chose Korean cuisine as the most attractive, with Thai tourists noting the "unique cultural assets of Korea," Taiwanese tourists pointed out the "clean streets," and those from Hong Kong singled out the "shopping environment" as memorable factors of their visit to Korea.
The survey also revealed that Korea is attractive for budget travelers and those interested in shopping. Of all the survey participants, 54.9 percent said they visited Korea to shop and 43.2 percent said the currency exchange rate and low travel expenses were reasons they chose Korea as a travel destination.
According to the Korea Tourism and Culture Institute, "hospitality is an important factor in getting previous visitors to come back" and added, "we would like to see hospitality spread to all foreign visitors."
(kws@heraldm.com)
By Song Woong-ki
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