The Daejeon International Marketing Enterprise (DIME) took part in the Korea Tourism Virtual Fair 2020 from October 12 to 16 to pioneer new markets and promote medical tourism that has shrunk due to COVID-19.

The online fair took place with the participation of 293 Korean enterprises and 657 foreign enterprises from the tourism sector as well as local governments. There were lectures titled “Promoting Korean Tourism Products in the Post-COVID-19 Era” and ‘The Present and Future of International Tourism’ as well as regional business presentations in the presence of overseas buyers from Japan, China, and other regions.

316 companies from English-speaking regions (Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East) such as TripAdvisor and Air Canada, 62 companies from Japan including Japan Travel Concierge (JTC), and 232 companies from Chinese-speaking regions for a total of 657 foreign companies based in 29 countries virtually attended the fair, where domestic sellers and foreign buyers were matched over the course of 5 days.

DIME promoted Daejeon as a medical hub while consulting with buyers from all over the world, in addition to explaining the ‘Daejeon Medical Tour Package’ consisting of dermatology, plastic surgery, traditional Korean medicine, and health examination programs. Not only that, but the organization also introduced Daejeon as a medical tourism destination that offers state-of-the-art medical infrastructure and concierge services and suggested ‘a visit to Daejeon’ to experience its medical tourism products once international travel occurs more freely again.

While the channels for face-to-face communication with domestic and foreign tourists and related organizations cut off due to COVID-19, DIME plans to keep communicating with potential visitors by sending online newsletters to the overseas travel and medical tourism agencies that attended ‘the Korea Tourism Virtual Fair 2020’ and posting informative content on YouTube and Facebook.