On May 9, 2008, Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (President Lim Byeong-soo) signed a partnership agreement with Asiana Airlines Japan in Tokyo. Under the partnership, joint marketing efforts will be made to attract Japanese tourists, and a range of tourism products will also be launched.

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and Asiana Airlines Japan agreed to work to attract 50,000 tourists annually through cooperative efforts. The organization and the 15 branches of Asiana Airlines located in Japan will utilize their broad network of local travel agencies for the planning and launch of Gyeonggi tourism products as well as for joint marketing activities.

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and Asiana Airlines plan to establish a joint project task force team with the following mandate: to make field trips to potential tourist attractions for the development and planning of new tourism products; to attract group tourists such as general package tourists, school tourists, and incentive trips offered by businesses; and to launch special products provided by Gyeonggi Province.

Both parties also plan to jointly promote the province at tourism fairs, introduce the Sales Call System, and host presentations for tourist attractions, as part of their efforts for aggressive local marketing.

An official from the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization said, “By simultaneously conducting joint marketing with Asiana Airlines based on their local networks, and launching a new range of tourism products, we hope to attract more tourists to Gyeonggi Province. Enabling the organization to find new ways to attract tourists will in turn contribute to the stimulation of the tourism industry in the Seoul Metropolitan area and the Central Area, as well as in Gyeonggi Province.”

Expressing a strong commitment to future cooperation, a spokesperson from Asiana Airlines said, “We will jointly develop new tourism products every year, and undertake aggressive marketing activities in order to expand the services offered by Asiana Airlines and continuously increase the number of tourists to Gyeonggi Province.”