Lee Jung-hwan, general director at Culture, Tourism & Sports Bureau of Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government, watches a video introducing Jeju Island at a press conference for Jeju tourism, held in New Delhi on Wednesday. The event was attended by 30 journalists, and 80 Indian tourism industry representatives, such as Gudeep Singh Sahni (second left), President of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), and Sanjeet Joher, Vice President at Cox and Kings Limited./ Photographed by Ha Man-joo

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - "In order to attract Indian tourists, Korea should first resolve language barrier and food issues," said Guldeep Singh Sahni, President of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), on Wednesday.

At a press conference for Jeju tourism held in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, Sahni told AsiaToday, "When choosing a destination, tourists consider attractions, natural environment, food, shopping, and other factors comprehensively. It's a very good decision for Jeju Island to come to India and hold an event like this. A series of events will gradually take effect."

Sahni said, "There are nearly 8.6 million Indians who travel abroad every year. An American research firm predicted the Indian outbound travel market will account for 50 million tourists by 2020. Unlike in the past where Indian tourists visited countries close by such as Southeast Asian countries and Dubai, the tourism trend has changed a lot. There are nearly 1 million Indian tourists who visit the US every year. So travel time to Korea is not a problem."

He added, "If Korean tourism organizations and private tourism agencies widen their partnerships to smaller travel agencies from current big Indian agencies, there will be more Indian tourists who visit Korea. We are willing to help at the association level."

Lee Jung-hwan, general director at Culture, Tourism & Sports Bureau of Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government, said, "India's rapidly growing economy and its large population of 1.3 billion attracted our attention, and we held this event to investigate the market. Discovering that Indian tourism industry is eyeing on Jeju Island as a destination for India's MICE was a great reward of this event. It is the first time that Jeju Island is holding a tourism-related event in India."

Co-organized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Tourism Organisation, Jeju Tourism Association and Jeju Convention & Visitors Bureau, the event was attended by 130 people, including 30 journalists, 40 Indian travel agencies and 80 industry representatives.