SEOUL, 15 June 2015 – The Philippines garnered praise and recognition during the recently concluded 30th Korea World Travel Fair 2015 (KOTFA) held on 11-15 June 2015 at the COEX Exhibition Hall in Seoul뭩 Gangnam-gu district.

The event, which was organized by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, was formally opened by KOTFA Chairman Shin Jung Mok. Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez attended the opening ceremony as a special guest.

the Philippines has long been one of the leading beneficiaries of Korean outbound tourism, being one of the handful of countries in the Million Visitors Club that welcomes more than 1 million tourist arrivals every year, Ambassador Hernandez said in his toast remarks at the welcoming luncheon at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel.

He added that the Visit the Philippines Year 2015 campaign in Korea was off to an amazing start, with South Korea remaining at the top as the leading source of tourists to the Philippines from January to March 2015 with a total of 361,480 Koreans tourists representing a 20.4 percent increase from the same period last year.

Following the opening ceremony, Ambassador Hernandez visited the Philippine pavilion, which showcased popular tourism destinations and offered attractive travel packages catering to the international tourist market. Visitors were drawn to the golf, beach and honeymoon packages as well as the Secondary Language Learning Program (ESL) offering tutorials in English.

At KOTFA's closing ceremony, the Philippines was honored with the 밄est in Tourism Publicity Awards while the Philippine folkloric group Banda Kawayan won the Best in Folkloric Performance Awards for its captivating cultural performance. Philippine Tourism Director and Attaché Maricon Ebron received the awards from KOTFA Chairman Shin.

The KOTFA is the largest and most prestigious travel fair held annually in Seoul and featured exhibitors from countries belonging to Asia, Europe, Oceania, America, Africa and the Middle East. More than 500 companies and organizations from 60 countries participated in this year's international travel fair.

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