8 out of 10 visitors to Korea try kimchi: poll

Summary>
About 84 percent of foreigners said that they tried kimchi while traveling in Korea. Bibimbap ranked second with 62 percent, followed by bulgogi and galbi, with 58 percent and 47 percent. The list of top 10 Korean menus also included "naengmyeon", "samgaetang" and "kimchi jjigae". Kimchi was favored mostly by Russian respondents with 93.7 percent followed closely by Taiwanese and Singaporeans. They tried kimch because the Korean dish is known widely as healthy food and it was included in every Korean menu. Foreigners were generally satisfied with the quality of Korean food and restaurants. However, they had problems with communicating with restaurant servers on selecting menus.

Opinion>
Korea has many things that can attract foreigners. Elegant and refined Hanbok, unique and healthy dishes, ondol(floor heating system) and four seasons. But these are not being used for tourist attractions properly. Dishes in this news story are also tourist attractions. How can we use these attractions?
Foreigners visited in Korea, tried Korean dishes. But making dishes firsthand will give them more fun. Kimchi has unique and complex process to make. First, pickle cabbages, and the cabbages are mixed with many spices like ginger, hot pepper, garlic and salted shrimp, etc. Events making kimchi are held sometimes. But because they are not regular, many foreigners can’t experience ‘making kimchi’. So, we need to provide visitors fixed place and time to make kimchi or Korean dishes.
Second, provide them luxury and elegant eating experience. Bulgogi and galbi are favored by foreigners. But, when they try it, their dresses are impregnated with bad smell. So the eating experience can be disagreeable experience. To solve this problem, restaurant should be well equipped with ventilating system. And the restaurants should provide cultural experience thorough traditional décor, uniforms that simplified Hanbok and traditional liquor in traditional bottle, etc. It is necessary to employ bilingual who can speak in English, Chinese and Japanese.
Third, provide them well-being experience thorough Korean dishes. Western dishes are higher-fat and higher-carbohydrates, so many of westerners are overweight and exposed to adult disease. On the other hand, Korean dishes are comprised of vegetables, kimchi and soybean paste. So, Korean dishes are relatively low-fat and have nutrition balance.

References;
Author: Cho Chung-unTitle: 8 out of 10 visitors to Korea try kimchi: poll
Korea Herald. May 3, 2008

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