The Korea Tourism Organization has produced its first Chinese-language tour guidebook aimed at catering to the Chinese Muslim market.
"Almost 20 million people of 10 ethnic minorities including Hui and Uyghur in China are Muslims, with a concentrated population in the Xinjiang region but most guidebooks for Muslim tourists were for those in Southeast Asia, so there has been no Muslim-related information available in Chinese," a KTO spokesperson said.
The guidebook details tourist facilities and hotels with prayer rooms and halal food menus.
"With more halal restaurants expected to open across the country, we’ll also develop tourist programmes for Chinese Muslims connecting Jeju and Busan," the KTO official said.
Coinciding with the launch, the first group of 24 Chinese Muslims are on a five-day trip in South Korea which has been developed jointly by the KTO, Asiana Airlines and local tour agencies.
Korean tourism officials said they hope to attract up to one million Muslim tourists this year.
