Korean Visitors Research Articles

What on-site landscape experiences attract potential visitors to a site? A Japan–Korea cross-cultural comparison

ABSTRACT In the age of big data, social media’s influence on on-site landscape experiences is growing, and the relationship between on- and off-site landscape planning and management is becoming more important. The study’s objectives were: 1) to identify scenic hotspots based on on-site visitor experiences, 2) clarify landscape preferences and attractiveness based on photographs taken at scenic hotspots, and 3) examine similarities and differences between Japanese and Korean visitors in terms of landscape preferences and attractiveness. The data were collected using geotagged visitor employed photography from 153 visitors to the Takao Quasi-National Park in Japan were used to understand off-site appreciation, and compare Japanese and Korean visitors’ experiences. Photo-based questionnaires were completed by 42 Japanese and 40 Korean respondents. We collected 1,645 geotagged photographs, and performed a GIS analysis with network-based kernel density estimation to identify scenic hotspots. The data extracted from the photo-based questionnaire were used to analyze the relationship between on-site and off-site experiences, as well as similarities and differences between the Japanese and Korean participants. The data were analyzed using means, Welch’s t-test, Wilcoxon sum-rank test, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and Kendall’s correlation analysis. The results identified nine scenic hotspots, and revealed that the photographs that the Japanese visitors preferred to take would not necessarily attract tourists, nor were they the same as the scenic spots and objects the Korean visitors found attractive. As international tourism expands, cross-cultural research on on- and off-site experiences and preferences has become increasingly important for forest landscape management and sustainable tourism.

Characteristics of percentage of foreign guests in Hokuriku region

The rates of the total number of foreign visitors from each country/region and the rates of the total number of guests in the Hokuriku region (including three prefectures: Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama) before the spread of corona infection (2019) are compared. The total number of foreign guests in the region were about 1.2 million in that year and the number of Ishikawa had the highest rate 64.3 % and Toyama was 27.5 %. The one for Fukui was 8.2 %. The number of guests from Taiwan were the largest in all prefectures and the total guest number from China was lower than the one for Taiwan. Chinese visitors account for 30 % of total number of foreign visitors to Japan and the number is maximum. In Fukui Prefecture, the personal travel expenditure for Chinese visitors is the largest of main countries/regions and it is necessary to increase Chinese guests for the local economy as a short-term target. The percentage of South Korean visitors is small even though there are regular flights. It is desired to increase South Korean visitors, for example by constructing a new market oriented strategy. Although there are some types of human exchange, friendship/sister-city tie-up can be thought of as a typical exchange. It is effective to promote educational and business exchanges based on a tie-up and to maintain a certain number of exchange people. And, it is important that the exchanging population is expanded. The number of partnered municipalities of foreign countries is about 90 in the Hokuriku region. The partner municipalities in China remains at a small rate (26 %), though Japan has some kinds of deep connections with China, especially in the economic field. There is a high potential to promote human exchange considering the Chinese population and bilateral distance.

1950~60년대 판문점 개방과 남북한의 체제 선전

Examined in this article is how Panmunjom(the Joint Security Area) emerged as a global sightseeing spot, and a battle ground for state propaganda between South and North Koreas. Such emergence was during the 1950s and ’60s, after the Korean war, and occurred in the wake of both Koreas’ competition with each other, in the Cold War political climate. Naturally there were also several ‘unofficial’ cases of contacts between South and North Korean visitors happening here and there, enabled by the Panmunjo m’s opening to the public. That is examined here as well, so that we could ascertain the historic meaning of such encounters.BR Panmunjom was where, during the Korean War, negotiations for the armistice took place. And after that, it was also used as an office space for the Military Armistice Commission, and the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission. It was the only place where both Koreas could officially meet with each other, so ever since the armistice in 1953, reporters and civilian visitors continued to visit the place. In the 1960s Panmunjom was even opened as a tourist attraction, through a decision that was actively pushed by not only the South Korean government and its policy of tourism promotion, but also the UN Command’s view of Panmunjom as an effective tool for propaganda. Later, other facilities like the “House of Freedom” and Panmun-gak were constructed as well, further sealing Panmunjom’s role and status as a propaganda space. BR With the Panmunjom opened, all sorts of unofficial encounters between visitors from both Koreas continued. They were of course all under control and close monitoring of the state authorities, but they were also incidents that could ultimately cause some cracks in the once rigid Cold War order.

Imperial Loyalism and Political Fissures in Early Modern Japan

Scholars of early modern Japanese history have noted the imperial court's political insignificance and the lack of conflict most contemporaries supposedly saw between the emperor's institutionally supreme position and the fact that Japan's warlords had usurped power away from the emperor. This article draws on Korean visitors' observations of Japanese society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to challenge this view and reveal that the imperial court remained the only truly legitimate seat of power for many early modern Japanese elites, exposing the depths of fissures in the Japanese political order in ways most scholarship has overlooked.

A small window into the status of malaria in North Korea: estimation of imported malaria incidence among visitors from South Korea.

OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to develop hypotheses on trends in malaria incidence in North Korea using malaria incidence among South Korean visitors to North Korea.METHODSThe number of South Korean tourists who visited Mount Kumgang from 2000 to 2008 and the number of South Korean employees at the Kaesong Industrial Complex from 2005 to 2015 were obtained from the Korean Statistical Information Service. The number of malaria cases among South Koreans who visited North Korea was obtained from a previous report. The incidence of malaria per 100,000 person-years was calculated using these data and compared with the malaria incidence in North Korea derived from published articles.RESULTSA high incidence of malaria in 2001 and a sharp decline in the following years were observed in both South and North Korean data. Since then, North Korean data showed a relatively low and stable incidence, but the incidence among South Koreans visiting North Korea increased in 2006. Considering the trends in mass primaquine preventive treatment, floods, and economic growth rate, the incidence of malaria may have increased in North Korea in 2006. Since 2009, the incidence of malaria decreased gradually according to both South and North Korean data.CONCLUSIONSThe trends of malaria incidence in North Korea could be reflected through its incidence among South Koreans who visited North Korea. For future inter-Korean collaboration aiming to eradicate malaria, we propose that a North Korean malaria monitoring system be established applying this method.

관광지 이미지가 관광만족도 및 재방문의도에 미치는 영향 관계 : 내국인 및 외국인 방문객의 조절효과 검증

관광지 이미지가 관광만족도 및 재방문의도에 미치는 영향 관계 : 내국인 및 외국인 방문객의 조절효과 검증

Forecasting International Tourist Flows to a Small Island: The Case of Saipan

Sustainable tourism, unlike conventional tourism, explicitly strives to maintain economic, environmental, and social sustainability in tourist destinations. Saipan, the capital and the largest island of the chain of Pacific islands known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is a tropical destination that heavily relies on the tourist industry as a source of income. When analyzing the trends of tourist arrivals from the top three countries that account for the majority of tourist arrivals in Saipan-China, Japan, and Korea-the necessity to implement sustainable tourism in Saipan becomes clear. This article forecasts tourism demand, which is one of the main factors in determining sustainable tourism on a small island. Analyzing both long-term and cyclical trends in tourist arrivals assists budget-constrained policymakers and related organizations in implementing sustainable tourism. Therefore, forecasting accuracy is essential in tourism policy and planning. The tourist arrival data obtained from Marianas Visitors Authority’s official Japanese website are made into a time series for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean visitor data from 2006 to 2016. Given the various time-series forecasting models, we employ simple but powerful forecasting techniques, such as ARIMA and ETS to control for the possible seasonality and trend in our tourism data. Using these forecast methods, the tourist arrival data is used to predict the future trends of tourist arrivals in Saipan for the next twelve months. The performance of our forecasting model in this study is evaluated based on the five measures of accuracy, as measured by comparison with actual tourism flows: mean error, mean absolute scaled error, mean percentage error, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error. A comparison of the two popular forecast techniques in this study shows that the ETS model statistically outperforms the ARIMA model in terms of various measures of accuracy. A practical implication of this finding is that the ETS approach should be used when forecasting tourism demand for small islands. We predict the visitor arrivals from China, Japan, and Korea to Saipan by using the better model. The estimated 80% and 95% intervals for the number of tourist arrivals by the ETS model are presented in this study. The upper (lower) bound is the maximum (minimum) value of the estimated tourist arrivals. We find strong evidence that the tourist arrival trend for Korean visitors to Saipan will increase in the short run; although, the Chinese and Japanese tourist arrival trends seems to be stable, except for Japanese tourist arrivals in August. Nonetheless, with such an intense demand for Saipan’s natural resources, sustainable island tourism becomes necessary. Our estimated result is useful to practitioners in the sense that they are able to prepare for carrying capacities and the means of destination management on Saipan. Proper management for maintaining the island environmentally, economically, and socially requires the preservation of indigenous culture, local quality of life, natural resources, and economic stability while accommodating the demands of arriving tourists. It is crucial to preserve the assets of Saipan in order to maintain and improve its economy. Thus, our time series modeling for forecasting the number of visitors becomes necessary to develop overall economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the island. An interesting addition to implementing sustainable tourism in Saipan is the idea of maintaining a “cap” on the number of incoming tourists visiting the island. Perhaps, with more research on Saipan’s environment, specifically an estimate of how much of the island’s resources tourists exhaust and how much the island can withstand the aforementioned, this “cap” could be practical to prevent perpetual damage to Saipan’s biodiversity, resources, culture, and economy. Along with this idea, knowing the minimum number of tourists needed to sustain Saipan’s necessities is valuable.

한류문화축제 방문객, 그들은 K-pop 팬덤인가 축제방문객인가?

The purpose of this study was to analyze subjective perceptions of Chinese and Korean visitors attending a Hallyu culture festival using Q methodology and then to compare the differences between the two groups. Cohen’s concept that tourism motivation and experience may differ depending on the difference of perceptions between self-culture and other-cultures was used as a framework for the analysis of visitors to the Busan One Asia Festival (BOF). As a result, the subjectivity of Chinese visitors was divided into four factors, whereas the subjectivity of Koreans was divided into three. From these factors, several meaningful results could be derived. First, the Korean Wave contents and their experience competitiveness were commonly recognized by Chinese and Korean visitors. Second, while the Chinese group placed relative importance on cultural exchanges, the Korean group was more focused on escape from daily life. Finally, this study proposed various strategies for developing contents and promoting festivals in order to expand the cognitive scope of festivals concentrating on K-pop.

An investigation into the segmentation of Japanese traditional ‘Ryokan’ hotels using selection attributes

Characterized as involving ‘Japanese traditionalism elements’, Ryokan-style accommodation includes full food and beverage service, futons and spas (hot springs), and emphasizes local traditional food. Although these Japanese traditional hotels are famous for their excellent service, traditions, and are a unique accommodation experience for overseas visitors, research into the Ryokan market segment remains limited. The aim of the current study is to provide a better understanding of the decision-making of that market segment of travelers from Korea that use Ryokan-style hotels. The data were collected ( N = 328) from Korean visitors to Japan during February and March of 2015. Segmentation of tourists by selection attributes resulted in three clusters: ‘personal service seekers’ (36.9%), ‘physical environment seekers’ (21.1%), and ‘spa & gourmet, systematic service and reputation seekers’ (42.0%). There were statistically significant differences between the three clusters with respect to the characteristics of Korean tourists. The implications of this study are discussed relative to possible future Ryokan marketing strategies and to future research on this accommodation type.

The effect of enhanced international air access on the demand for peripheral tourism destinations: Evidence from air itinerary choice behaviour of Korean visitors to Australia

Our study aims to contribute empirical evidence on the capacity of aviation policy to stimulate greater tourism in peripheral destinations. Specifically, we examine the extent to which enhanced air service availability to a peripheral destination will translate into greater number of tourists. By using choice experiments, the research design addresses the generative effect of new air services on tourism demand, as well as the broader tourism context in which the air itinerary choices are made. In the context of Koreans travelling to Australia, the market share effects of the changes in the factors both external and internal to aviation policy are simulated. Although the results suggest that changes in the flight itinerary attributes can generate additional tourists for peripheral destinations, the extent to which the aviation attributes can generate tourism is strongly dependent on the tourists' length of stay in Australia. The key implication is that institutional changes such as the length of leave entitlements or visa arrangements for foreign travellers are important contextual factors that can significantly enhance or depress the effect of the destination’s aviation policy and air service attributes designed for tourism development.

Perception of Thematic-Based Interpretation at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: A Study of Korean Visitors

The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) is a National Park Service (NPS) monument in St. Louis, Missouri, that serves as a symbol of westward expansion and frontier life in America during the 19th century. Most of the nearly 2.5 million annual visitors are interested in learning about its history and significance. Although the Gateway Arch is an international tourism destination, few attempts have addressed the language requirements of foreign visitors. This study evaluated thematic-based interpretation at the Gateway Arch using a sample of Korean visitors. A total of 148 subjects were recruited from the Asian Affairs Center (AAC) at the University of Missouri (MU) and assigned to one of three conditions: control group (n=42), watching a DVD prior to the visit (n=62), or participating in an on-site, ranger-led tour (n=44). Individuals were asked to evaluate five interpretive themes developed by NPS staff (by condition) using a questionnaire that was translated into Korean and checked for accuracy. Results indicated that theme perception was relatively poor in the control group, but improved significantly ( p < 0.05) after watching a DVD and attending a NPS ranger-led tour. Managerial implications of this study focused on improving visitor experiences for international audiences, especially Koreans.

전통경관의 치유특질과 방문경험 - 경주 안압지 방문자의 평가를 중심으로 -

의도된 집중력은 환경에 의해 장기간 요구되면 피로하게 된다. Kaplan과 Kaplan의 집중력 회복이론(ART)에서는 피로한 의도된 집중력은 치유경관에 의해 회복된다고 주장된다. 네 가지 치유특질은 탈출감, 경관의 매력, 경관의 공간감, 그리고 적합성이다. ART에서는 다양한 경관이 치유효과를 유발할 수 있다고 인정하고 있지만, 지금까지 경관의 치유효과는 자연경관과 도시경관의 두 가지 차원에서 연구되어 왔다. 본 연구의 목적은 본 연구의 목적은 두 가지로 첫째, 전통경관을 대상으로 한국형 PRS를 개발하고, 두 번째, 전통경관의 치유특질이 방문경험에 미치는 영향을 조사하는 것이다. 본 연구는 안압지에서 수행되었으며, 200명의 안압지 방문자가 설문조사에 참여하였다. Hartig 등의 PRS(Perceived Restorativeness Scale)가 경관의 치유성을 평가하기 위한 측정도구로 사용되었다. 분석결과는 다음과 같이 요약된다. 1) PRS는 역사지역에 대한 한국인의 평가에 매우 신뢰성 있는 측정도구로 밝혀졌다. 특히, 요인분석에서는 네 가지 요인이 도출되었는데, 이는 ART를 뒷받침하고 있다. 2) 경관의 장소성은 치유효과에 긍정적인 영향이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 3) 경관의 아름다움은 비록 경관의 장소성이 경관치유에 미치는 영향보다는 작지만, 긍정적인 영향이 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 4) 네 가지 경관치유특질 중에서 세 가지 특질(경관의 매력, 탈출감, 적합성)이 방문만족과 재방문의사에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 상대적인 중요도의 순서는 경관의 매력, 탈출감, 적합성으로 분석되었다. 연구결과에 근거하면, 앞으로의 연구에서는 PRS의 신뢰성을 재 검증하기 위한 연구가 필요한 것으로 나타난다. 또한 장소성과 경관의 치유효과의 관계성을 밝히기 위한 연구도 필요한 것으로 판단된다. Effortful directed attention becomes fatigued if it is demanded by environment. Kaplan and Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory (ART) proposes that the fatigued directed attention can be restored by a restorative landscape. The four restorative components are being away, fascination, extent, and compatibility. The restorative effect of landscape has been mainly investigated in terms of nature vs. urban dichotomy, although ART acknowledges that various types of landscapes can induce restorative effect. The purpose of this study is to examine whether sense of place of landscape has an influence on the restorative effect, and how the effect relates to the visiting experience. This study was performed in An-Ap-Ji with 200 Korean visitors who participated in the questionnaire survey. Hartig et al.'s PRS (Perceived Restorativeness Scale) was used as the research instrument to measure the restorative quality. The Analysis results are summarized as: 1) PRS was a very reliable measurement for Koreans' assessment of traditional landscape. Especially, the factor analysis produced four restorative components which fully supported ART. 2) The sense of place of landscape was found to have a positive influence on the restorative effect. 3) Landscape beauty was also discovered to be influential in the restoration even though the effect of beauty was lower than that of the sense of place. 4) Among the four restorative components, three components (fascination, escape, compatibility) influenced both visiting satisfaction and revisit intention, where the order of the relevant importance was fascination, escape, and compatibility. Based on the results, it was suggested that PRS should be used in landscape restoration research in Korea in order to re-examine its' reliability. It was also proposed that more research should be directed to investigate the relationship between the sense of place and the restorative effect of landscape.

Writing Sǒkkuram: An Archaeology of Inscription Around 1911

This article makes a case, in the study of Korea's colonial modern transition, for supplementing the examination of writings with attention to historical modalities of writing itself considered as a material inscriptive practice, and thus also for the interdisciplinary engagement of Korean history or art history with material culture studies, science studies, and the phenomenological anthropology of landscape. My focus is Sǒkkuram, surely among the most extensively discussed of all Korean historic sites. Initially, I unveil a record of the temple in the unpublished papers of the anthropologist Frederick Starr stemming from his 1911 visit, in the window between Sǒkkuram's 1907 “rediscovery” and its first rebuilding of 1913. This record illuminates long-forgotten aspects of Sǒkkuram's materiality — such as how it was painted. Yet my purpose is not antiquarian; rather, it is to examine two historically significant non-representational orderings of words and things. In the first, what I call “writing in,” a form given phenomenologically by the relation of the figures on Sǒkkuram's walls contained multiple shifts in its meaningful content. Sǒkkuram became a privileged locus for considering Korea's “multiracial” pasts for a generation of Western authors, a commitment that superseded the overall assignment of meaning to the temple within histories of race, religion, or nation. Meanwhile, Starr's 1911 photographs show the practice of some Korean visitors to the temple of literally “writing on” its surfaces using ink or charcoal. I read “writing on” as a spatio-material practice of placing words, in which significance was not mainly an effect of content.

Incongruence in Destination Image: Central Asia Region

The Silk Road has a twenty-five century long history as a network of communication and trade routes from Asia to Europe. This study aims to investigate whether there are significant differences between pre- and post-travel images of Central Asia and whether the incongruence between pre- and post-travel image constructs influences tourists’ satisfaction with the trip and their behavioural intentions. The pre- and post-travel surveys were administered to first-time Korean visitors to Central Asia. Factor analyses were conducted on pre- and post-travel image and benefits differences. Regression analyses examined relationships among image and benefits incongruence, trip satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Some pre- and post-travel affective and cognitive images of Central Asia were significantly different, whereas all benefits were perceived more positively after the trip. Also, tourists who reported positive changes in affective and cognitive images were more satisfied with the trip and their satisfaction influenced their intentions to revisit the region.

Cross-strait Tourism in the Japan–Korean Border Region: Fukuoka, Busan, and Tsushima

This paper examines cross-border tourism initiatives to promote South Korean visitors to Japan's Tsushima Island. With a rapid growth of mutual influences and the construction of high-speed transportation, bilateral mobility between South Korea and Japan is booming accordingly. The past twenty years' trends in bilateral tourism between South Korea and Japan are first reported, followed by a 2008 survey conducted by the Fukuoka Asian Urban Research Center on tourism across the Tsushima Strait tourism, i.e. via Busan (South Korea) and Fukuoka (Japan). Comparative cross-strait analysis shows different motives and lengths of stay between Japanese and Korean tourists; however, both reports anticipate an incorporation of “experiences and exchanges” activities on their future visits. To promote cross-border tourism, findings of this study suggest a holistic approach by taking into account past history, current issues and future prospects of “near but remote” countries, such as Japan and Korea.

A cross-cultural study of perceptions of medical tourism among Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists in Korea

The purpose of this study is to observe factors related to perceptions of and possible participation in medical tourism by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean visitors to Jeju Island in Korea. It aims to identify cultural differences among them, and how those differences affect their pursuit of medical tourism in the future. The research results illustrate that significant differences exist in how Chinese, Japanese and Korean visitors view factors of choice, discomfort and preferred product items. The study establishes four factor groups regarding medical tourism with exploratory factor analysis. Based on these findings, differences of participation intention and behaviors among the three groups are explained. From this, the study describes distinct characteristics of medical tourism among the three cultural groups. The differences among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists with regard to the selection of destination, inconveniences, and preferred products were found to be all significant. Korean tourists placed most significance on selection factors, followed by Chinese tourists, and, lastly, the Japanese. On the other hand, inconveniences related to medical and care services, stay and cost, and information and insurance elements were most strongly associated with Japanese tourists. This may be a reflection of a possible tendency of Japanese tourists to value safety and cost effectiveness. For Chinese tourists, the importance of stay and cost was equally high as those of their Japanese counterparts, which is indicative of Chinese tourists’ cost sensitivity. Light treatments (minor surgery) were preferred by Chinese tourists, while more significant treatments (major surgery) were preferred by Japanese tourists. In terms of aesthetic and healthcare services, Chinese tourists showed the most interest, while Japanese tourists placed emphasis on rehabilitation (lifestyle-related), which may reflect the Korean Wave’s influence in certain Chinese market segments, leading to an increased demand for cosmetic or plastic surgery.

The effect of local culture and local event congruence on the perception of visitors' experience and authenticity －Focused on comparison of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese visitors in Jeju－

The effect of local culture and local event congruence on the perception of visitors' experience and authenticity －Focused on comparison of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese visitors in Jeju－

G protein β3 subunit, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α gene polymorphisms in Koreans with irritable bowel syndrome

The association between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) based on Rome III criteria and G protein beta3 subunit (GNB3), interleukin (IL)-10, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha gene polymorphisms is uncertain. Case and control subjects were recruited from Korean visitors to the Health Promotion Center and Digestive Disease Center for gastrointestinal endoscopy. G protein beta3 subunit, IL-10, and TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms were genotyped using a polymerase chain reaction-based method. Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis was used to assess gene-gene interactions. Genotype and allele frequencies of GNB3 showed marginal significance between the healthy controls and IBS patients (chi(2) = 5.92, P = 0.052; chi(2) = 3.76, P = 0.053). G protein beta3 subunit T allele was more strongly correlated with IBS with constipation (12 of constipation-dominant type and 31 of mixed type) than with 51 diarrhea-dominant type and 88 normal subjects (chi(2) = 13.91, P = 0.008). Multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis revealed that there were no significant interactions of GNB3, IL-10, and TNF-alpha gene variants with susceptibility to IBS (P > 0.05). The results suggest that GNB3 825T allele might be associated with IBS with constipation in Koreans.

THE EFFECTS OF PRIOR AND RECENT EXPERIENCE ON CONTINUING INTEREST IN TOURIST SETTINGS

This study concentrates attention on tourists’ prior and recent experience of tourist settings and explores the effects of this experience on continuing visitor interest levels in these types of settings. This indirect and non-localised continuing interest was identified as transferred loyalty. The sample consisted of South Korean visitors who were completing their visit to Australia. Consumer involvement theory and aspects of loyalty analysis constituted the conceptual framework for the study. The analysis identified considerable levels of transferred loyalty and for all settings studied there were trends in the hypothesised directions. The value of consumer involvement theory as a way of explaining increasing interest in tourist setting participation was consistently supported.

Korean Visitors to New Zealand: a Case of Unsustainable Tourism?

Korean Visitors to New Zealand: a Case of Unsustainable Tourism?