Dogye Station, a Steam Locomotive

KORAIL announced that the country’s sole switchback train will operate between Dogye Station in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, and High 1 Choochoo Park, the only mountain railway theme park in the country, from Jan. 9. A switchback refers to a zigzag railway in mountainous territory, which enables the train to run uphill.

The train will depart Dogye Station twice a day, running for an hour toward its destination, High1 Choochoo Park located at the old Simpori Station. One-way tickets are 5,000 won and round-trip tickets are 9,000 won. Tickets can be reserved at www.choochoopark.com, and also at www.letskorail.com from February.

(jej2403@heraldcorp.com)



‘2016, Year of Korea Tourism’

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism held the “2016, Year of Korea Tourism” launch ceremony at Century Theater in Beijing on Wednesday. The opening ceremony featured various performances and videos introducing Korean cultural contents, including K-pop and a collaboration of gukak, Korean classical music, and pop dance. A travel mart and Korea-China tourism forum preceded the launch. Korea aims to attract 8 million Chinese visitors this year.

(jej2403@heraldcorp.com)



Lotte World Adventure “Modern & Retro Night Party”

Lotte World Adventure will hold “Modern & Retro Night Party,” the theme park’s first night party of the year, on Jan.29. The party will begin at 10:30 p.m. and continue until 5 a.m.

Based on the concept of collaboration of the past and present, the party will feature performances by top ballad singer Baek Ji-young and hip-hop rapper Jessi and other special events. “Time slip photo zone” will capture the party from various angles and 13 rides at Lotte World Adventure will be available overnight.

Tickets are 19,000 won and can be reserved at www.ticketmonster.co.kr, www.wemakeprice.com, www.coupang.com. Those who make online reservations will get a discount of 2,000 won.

For more information, visit www.lotteworld.com or call 1661-2000.

(jej2403@heraldcorp.com)

KLM new destinations in 2016

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will offer seven new destinations in Europe and the U.S., adding up to 700,000 seats to European destinations thus summer.

KLM is expanding its medium-haul network with five new destinations: Southampton (U.K.), Inverness (U.K.), Dresden (Germany), Genoa (Italy) and Valencia (Spain). Customers can now choose from a total of 76 European destinations that KLM operates directly from Amsterdam. KLM will also expand its long-haul services to the U.S. with flights to Salt Lake City. In addition, it will add a new service to the Spanish island of Ibiza for an eight-week period during the summer season.

For more information, visit www.klm.com.

(jej2403@heraldcorp.com)



Las Vegas records largest number of visitors

Las Vegas Tourism Authority announced it recorded the highest number of visitors in 2015. More than 42 million visited Las Vegas last year, which renewed the records of 41.1 million in 2014.

Rossi Ralenkotter, president of Las Vegas Tourism Authority, attributed the record to the partnership with hotels and resorts in the region. The Tourism Authority “will consolidate the partnership to keep the quality of programs and services for the visitors from all over the world,” added Rossi.

The number of visitors in Las Vegas has presented a steady increase, creating 360,000 jobs and generating over $50 billion in tourism income.

(jej2403@heraldcorp.com)