Abstract
Among three neighboring countries in EastAsia, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong, Korea receives the leastnumberof U. S. visitors, despite her great efforts to increase the visitation through U.S. tour operators. This study examined the factors that influenced U.S. touroperators' decisions to develop and sell package tours to Korea and analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Korea as a tourist destination, as perceived by U. S. tour operators. Questionnaires were mailed to 240 tour operators in the U. S. to collect data. The studyfound that "compliance with customer demands" and "the negative image of Korea" are the two most important factors influencing U. S. tour operators' decisions concerning package tours to Korea. Most of U.S. tour operators who were not engaged in the business of package tours to Korea stated that "negative images of country" and "lack of information on Korea travel" were the most influential factors among others that discouraged them from developing tours to Korea. The survey also found that the strengths of Korea as a tourist destination for U. S. tour operators were "different culture and history" and "shopping opportuni ties, "while the weaknesses were "perceived political instability"and "lack of tourists' knowledge about κorea." Recommendations were presented to both U.S. tour operators and the Korean tourism authority to improve the situations.
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