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Korean Travel Online - Hotel Apps for your Smartphone

Some of the major hotel apps include Agoda, Expedia, and Hotels.com
We downloaded these three apps to try them out and here are a few screenshots:

Agoda

Option to change the currency, instead of country. Language remains English.

Search by city, and use the sort and filter to narrow down results.

Sort options include sorting by popularity, by rating, by review, by name, and by price.

Filter options by district to narrow results

Once you have selected a hotel, you can choose your room type and proceed with the payment.

Expedia

Once you change the country in the settings, the app's language setting changes too. There is no option to use the app in English while using a different currency.
Dear Expedia, not everyone in South Korea read Korean, you know.

Filters include price, distance, and rating. After selecting a hotel, you can find the room options in the next screen.

Choose a room type to calculate costs and proceed to Checkout to pay.

Hotels.com (the best among the three, in our opinion)

The settings provide you with two options: English and the country's local language

Search hotels by city, and use Sort and Filter to narrow down the results.

Choose room type and click Book Now. This page also provides useful info and other links.

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Korean Travel Online - “Surfing the Korean Wave” Hallyu Tour

The Hallyu Tourism Team of the Korea Tourism Organization offered a special opportunity for online Hallyu community organizers abroad to watch, feel, and enjoy the Korean wave, or Hallyu. Applicants submitted their travel itineraries and proposals for a chance to be invited to a five-day, all-expense paid trip to Korea. The 50 winners who were selected to take part in the tour will also be appointed as a Hallyu supporter by KTO President Charm Lee during the official ceremony on Thursday, August 8.

Thematically centered on experiencing all things Hallyu, the “Surfing the Korean Wave” tour has a fun-filled itinerary that includes dancing, singing, beauty and make-up, shopping and more. The tour started off on Monday, August 5 with a dance lesson at Def Dance Skool. Located in the Gangnam district, Def Dance Skool is one of the top private dance schools in the city that provides professional K-pop classes and dance lessons to foreigners.

Marilia Schnaia, president of K-pop Italia, says of the experience, “The song was a little difficult this dance class is amazing. I’ve never danced in my life but now, after half an hour, we’re already dancing. I’ve always wanted to dance to a k-pop song but I don’t have the time but now I’m discovering a new world.”

For lunch, the participants had some modernized versions of bunsik classics like kimbap and tteokbokki at popular fusion chain restaurant School Food.

They also showed off their knowledge of k-pop songs at Everysing in Apgujeong. Run by SM Entertainment, Everysing' karaoke system has an entire stock of all the songs ever recorded under the label. The second floor features a gift shop selling Girls Generation memorabilia, Super Junior postcards, and more.

Some of them are no stranger to noraebang or singing rooms. “I used to be an English teacher here so it’s fun to be here as a tourist, it’s a completely different experience,” said Cindy Anne Zimmer, founder and editor of ATK Magazine, an online magazine about Korean culture based in Canada.

For a coffee break, they stopped by Cube Studio Café in Cheongdam-dong. This coffee shop doubles as a place for fans to meet their k-pop idols under Cube Entertainment such as Beast, 4minute, G.NA and BTOB. Autographed merchandise can be seen around the café, and some of them are available for purchase.

Next stop was Gwangjang Market where they had a hearty meal of bindaetteokand completed the mission of the day.

At Skinanniversary in Paju City, Gyeonggi-do, they got some beauty tips, put on make-up and posed in front of a camera for a photo shoot.

They also stopped by the Korea House to make some Korean food and try on some hanbok.

Other activities in their itinerary include a tour of Bukchon Hanok Village, Lotte World, watching the non-verbal show Jump, attending the live taping of Show Champion, a chicken and beer party by Banpo Bridge, and shopping at Dongdaemun. The tour will conclude with a farewell dinner in Hongdae on Friday, August 9, 2013.

More photos and interview clips in the video below:

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Korean Travel Online - Camera Giveaway Winners

Thanks for entering the Suncheon Expo Ticket Giveaway!

Each entry was assigned a number upon entry submission. Then, winners were selected using a random number generator (random.org). Here are the lucky numbers:

And here are the winners:

To claim your prize, please send us an email at asia_english@knto.or.kr with the subject "Camera Giveaway Event" together with the following info:

Full name

Mailing address (include zip code and country)

Contact number (include the country code)

Deadline for sending email: July 31, 2013 (Wed)

Korean Travel Online - Lotus Flowers at Bongwonsa

Not far from Sinchon is a peaceful temple full of lotus flowers. Bongwonsa hosts the annual Seoul Lotus Flower Culture Festival and this year, it will be from August 7 to 17. For more info and directions >> http://bit.ly/bongwonsa

It had just stopped raining and the raindrops made the flowers look even more beautiful.