A boost for tourism

In the lead-up to the Olympic Games, Seoul gained new tourist infrastructure, including new accommodation, improvements to the Seoul airport and transport system, development of parks and an upgrade in the quality of tourism services. Two years before the Olympic Games Seoul 1988, the Korean government launched a targeted international promotional campaign in the form of seminars and enhanced public relations. Special teams were sent to Europe, America, South-East Asia and Japan to promote Olympic Games tourism packages.

As a result of this campaign, the number of international visitors to Korea grew by 16.4 per cent in 1986, 12.9 per cent in 1987, 24.9 per cent in 1988 and 16.6 per cent in 1989. This indicates that the demand for tourism was stimulated two years before the hosting of the Olympic Games, and that the effect continued after the event. In the three years that followed the Olympic Games, there was a benefit of USD 1.3 billion in this sector. The continued growth of international visitors to Korea has contributed to the long-term development of the country’s tourist industry. According to the Korean Tourism Organisation, 3.9 million people visited the country in 1997, and 13.3 million in 2017.