Visit Medical Korea, an integrated platform for Korean medical tourism, was launched in October by local pop group and honorary ambassador JYJ.
Available in English, Japanese and Chinese, the Visit Medical Korea website provides up-to-date medical tourism information about beauty, herbal medicine, wellness, health screenings, and treatments ranging from minor health problems to serious illnesses. The site also contains travel information, medical tour packages, and a page where people can get online medical consultation.
As an opening promotion, the site is offering 20% to 50% discounts on medical checkups, treatments and medical tour packages. By registering on the website and leaving a comment, users get a chance to win flight tickets, hotel vouchers, discount coupons for medical services and more.
With the increased need to promote the country as a serious medical tourism destination, some in the local medical tourism industry are less than happy that Korea’s new top tourism officials are an entertainer and a professor with no experience in tourism. Johnny Yune, an actor and comedian, is the new inspector, and Byun Chu-seok, former visual design professor at Kookmin University, is the new president of the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO). The roles are more than figureheads, and the sector is a vital one with travel and tourism in 2013 directly and indirectly accounting for 5.8% of GDP and 1.58 million jobs, or 6.3% of total employment. The KTO’s labour union is critical of Yune and Byun, alleging that the appointments are a sign that Korea’s government is giving executive positions in public enterprises as a reward for political activity. KTO ran a 20 billion won ($19.2 million) deficit in 2013.