The unlikely love affair between Korean television and Croatia tourism continues on December 19, 2016, with the latest filming which is guaranteed to get thouands on a plane from Seoul to Zagreb.
It is probably my favourite tourism story in Croatia.
Name the country which went from 16,000 to almost 400,000 tourist to Croatia in just six years?
The same country, whose embassy in Zagreb was the busiest in all Europe.
South Korea.
Yes, South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, if we are going to be formal about it. And it all started with a reality TV show called The Romantic…
It was the start of a flood of tourists, but also of filming of Korean reality TV shows set in Croatia, which has meant that South Koreans are among the fastest growing tourism countries for Croatia, and increasingly important.
And the promotion continues…
This just in from TCN friend and highly successful Croatian film producer, Spomenka Saraga:
Produced by Balduči Film and Korean company 4KPOWER, a new Korean travel show is being filmed currently in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia named PARADISE IN – Miss Korea 2016, to be broadcast on several Korean TV channels.
This is the third large project being realized this year in Croatia, specifically in the Zagreb and Zadar areas. Two Korean Miss travel the world, enjoy natural beauty, stay in high class hotels, meet the tradition, culture and gastronomy of their host nations. They are not ordinary tourists – they learn traditional dances, cook domestic specialties, attempt to learn the language of the country they are in, but also enjoy superior hotels, massages and spa treatments – essentially everything a touristic country offers to tourists.
This is a great promotion of Croatia in the Asian market, lately very interested in travels across Croatia and the neighbouring countries. The value of 45 minutes of promotion on 4 Korean channels with a 30 million audience does not need special mention. The producer is Spomenka Saraga, production coordinator is Nikica Dorešić who speaks excellent Korean and lives in Seoul, which makes communication with Korean teams much easier.
Such projects should in the future also be recognized by institutions reaping the benefits of such promotion – instead of being asked for help from producers, they should offer it. The investment is far lower than the cost of such strong promotion.
Channel to broadcast
1.Cable TV (15 millions members) UMAX – January
2. BTV – IPTV (8 millions members) – Feburay
3. LG U+ (2.5 millions) – January
4. Skylife (4.3 millions) – Feburary
