[Kulture Issue] Places to travel in Seoul, in spring and solo

Spring has arrived.

Temperatures here in Korea are now hovering in the teens during the peak of the day.

This means, lighter clothes, more outdoor activities and more traveling, either with family, friends or ALONE.

Today, we invite tourism expert Darryl Bilbao, former PR Global Manager at the Seoul Tourism Organization into the studio, to have a chat on traveling in Seoul, especially alone. Welcome Darryl!

1) Darryl, please introduce yourself to the Kulture Wave viewers.

2) It’s a perfect time to talk about tourism and travel. It’s not only gotten warmer recently here in Korea, but travel figures are looking good. Especially here in the capital Seoul, the number of foreign tourists climbed past 12 million last year (12.12 mil.), close to the highest ever figure in 2019 (12.47 mil.), so before the pandemic. What are the reasons behind this surge?

3) What makes Seoul so attractive as a travel spot?

4) Darryl, you worked as a global PR manager for the Seoul Tourism Organization. You must have communicated a lot with foreign tourists. What are some memorable things they had to say about their trip to Seoul?

5) In recent years there has been a rising trend of doing things alone. “Honhaeng” meaning traveling alone is one of those. And amid that trend, Seoul recently has also been ranked as the number one city for solo travel by travel platform Tripadvisor. Why is that and do you agree that Seoul is a great place to visit solo?

6) Could you recommend any top spots to visit alone in Seoul this spring season?

7) As a tourism expert, maybe some last tips for solo travelers who choose Seoul as their next travel destination?