[Sports Seoul | Reporter Wi Su-jeong] The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) turned heads at the world’s biggest travel trade show, promoting South Korea while stepping up efforts to attract business travelers.
The KTO announced on March 10 that it took part in ITB Berlin 2026, held March 3–5 in Germany, to boost awareness of Korean tourism. ITB is the largest B2B travel fair in the world, drawing about 6,000 organizations from 160 countries this year.
Working with 28 partners—including domestic travel agencies and airlines, the Seoul Tourism Foundation, Busan Tourism Organization, and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural and Tourism Organization—the KTO ran a Korea pavilion filled with interactive programming. Visitors tried hands-on activities like assembling a wooden model of Cheomseongdae and taking part in a K-Culture quiz; roughly 5,000 people stopped by.
The KTO also welcomed 25 local partners—German media and travel agencies—to the Korean Cultural Center in Berlin for a Korea travel briefing and a Korean food tasting.
The KTO zeroed in on German visitor trends to target business travel growth: about 48% of German tourists visit regions beyond Seoul, and roughly 27% of German visitors to Korea come for business—these travelers typically spend more per trip.
To capitalize on that potential, the KTO signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with FRM, Frankfurt’s investment promotion agency; German medical and healthcare distributor Insenio; and T’way Air. The MOU aims to strengthen collaboration to attract higher-value business travelers to Korea.
During the fair, KTO staff conducted 753 business meetings, which are expected to translate into about 33.5 billion KRW (approximately $25,125,000) in inbound travel package sales.
“Germany is a strategic market with strong interest in Korean history and culture, and demand for business travel is growing,” said Kim Jung-taek, director of the KTO’s Frankfurt office. “We will work to turn that interest into actual visits and help activate regional tourism.” wsj0114@sportsseoul.com
