K-Pop Fever, IPB University Students Research the Economic Value of Tourism in Korea
South Korea is one of the developed countries in the East Asia region whose economic sector is experiencing rapid development. In addition to the economic sector, the tourism sector in South Korea has also made progress in recent years. The increase in the number of tourists traveling to South Korea is inseparable from the rise of the Hallyu phenomenon that hit the world. Hallyu or Korean Wave is a term used to describe South Korean popular culture products that have been successfully exported to other countries in Asia, Europe, and America.
Three students from the Department of Resource Economics and Environment and the Department of Marine Science and Technology of IPB University who are members of the 2019 Student Creativity Program in Social Sciences (PKM-PSH) researched the economic value of tourism for South Korea due to Hallyu with the travel cost method. The team consisted of Roro Ganes Aryani Haryanata, Hanipa Kurniawati and Harina Sadar who were guided by Kastana Sapanli, S.Pi, M.Sc.
Roro, the PKM team leader said, on average tourists visiting Korea aged 20-21 years, this age refers to the age of late adolescence. The results of the study show that the higher the education of a person, then someone's interest in traveling will increase. This can be caused by the wider knowledge of information about South Korea that is obtained in line with the growing curiosity and has an impact on the increased interest in traveling.
According to Roro, the benefits of the existence of Hallyu for Indonesia include influencing bilateral relations between Indonesia and South Korea, especially in the fields of creative industry and tourism. South Korea is famous for its medical world and beauty business. Advanced technology at affordable prices compared to competitors. This makes South Korea one of the reasons tourists visit medical tourism destinations.
"Indonesia can learn from South Korea to be able to realize health tourism destinations. Based on the research that we have studied, there is a plan to build the world's first anti-aging resort on Laki Island in the Thousand Islands as a supporter of the realization of the Health Tourism Destination in Indonesia, "said Roro.
Some things that need to be taken into consideration in order to be able to add local tourist attraction such as tourism in South Korea is to promote Indonesian tourism both through social media and other media. This is to provide more attraction for local and foreign tourists. In addition, there is a need for attention from the government in building and developing tourism areas owned by Indonesia.
"We hope that the results of this study can be useful as a recommendation for solutions to increase domestic tourism as well as provide a positive impact as a material for evaluating the government in implementing domestic tourism policies," said Roro (AVR)
