The Shilla Duty Free launches student volunteer programme to promote tourism

SOUTH KOREA. The Shilla Duty Free has launched a volunteer programme for Chinese students attending universities in Seoul to promote local tourism.

Over the next six months, the 50 students from eight universities will take part in activities to promote traditional sights and lesser-known travel spots in the country. A launch event took place on 2 February at The Shilla Duty Free head office in Seoul.

The company said traditional, historic sites in South Korea lack promotions and activities for tourists. To tackle this issue, The Shilla Duty Free will provide information and guides for these sites via its volunteer programme.

The Chinese student volunteers will help The Shilla Duty Free promote South Korean tourism via social media.

The volunteers will share information about the travel spots across various social media channels such as The Shilla Duty Free website, its official Weibo account and the students’ personal accounts.

The programme aims to bridge the communication barrier between merchants operating at the tourism spots and Chinese travellers.

“The Shilla Duty Free is looking forward to [boosting visitor numbers] by directing duty free shoppers to local travel spots, including traditional marketplaces and lesser-known places,” a Shilla spokesperson commented.

“Furthermore, by introducing various attractive travel spots through our Chinese student volunteers, Shilla is creating more online buzz among travel-loving Chinese people to ultimately invite more of them to the country,” the company added. “The Shilla Duty Free will continue promoting our corporate commitment to the local community.”

Volunteer and Sogang University School of Mass Communication Graduate Liu Ke said: “Being a Chinese student who is studying and living in South Korea, I’ve always been looking forward to getting an opportunity to help the local community. I hope the volunteer programme will be a chance to introduce less well-known, attractive places in South Korea to my fellow Chinese friends.”

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