IN A rare move to jumpstart its tourism industry, North Korea is hosting an international tourism fair in May.
According to Yonhap News, Chinese media have quoted O Ung-gil, general manager of North Korea’s Wonsan Area Development, as saying that the event will take place at the ill-fated Kumgang mountain resort.
Developed by South Korea’s Hyundai Asan, the resort opened in 1998 and was promoted as a symbol of warming ties between the two ideologically opposed halves of the Korean peninsula.
Tours for South Korean visitors, however, were abruptly halted in 2008 after a North Korea guard shot dead a tourist who had wandered into a restricted military zone.
Nevertheless, North Korea “always opens its doors to investors and welcomes investors”, the Chinese newspaper quoted O as saying at a travel trade fair in Shenyang on Friday.
Travel agencies with operations in the isolated state confirmed to TTG Asia e-Daily that rumours of the event are circulating.
“The details are a bit sparse at the moment but we are waiting for the final information on what exactly can be expected,” said Simon Cockerell, general manager of Beijing-based Koryo Tours.
“They have not had a tourism fair like this before, although in 2013 there was an event for the 60th anniversary of the Korea International Travel Company,” he added. “But that was essentially a conference for the travel organisation’s partner companies.”
Koryo Tours is considering taking part in the fair because it believes that there is “room for growth” in what is presently a small, niche market.
