Safety Measures for Travelling

The festive travelling period is about happiness and goodwill, but things will not be as rosy when you've encountered threats to your safety and security. Read on for some useful tips when travelling.

1. Pre-Travel Tips
-Check the expiration dates on your passport, credit cards, medical checkup, vitamins etc.

-Ensure that visas are applied for, if needed.

-Check if you need to have immunizations when entering a particular country.

-Leave your keys with family/friend/neighbour, and get them to check on your house occasionally.

-Ensure you have adequate travel insurance.

2. Travel Smart
-Dress appropriately. Avoid bright coloured clothes and fancy jewellery. Also, when heading to places of worship, remember to dress conservatively and respect the customs of the country.

-Always keep your belongings in plain sight of you. For valubles like money and passports, keep them in a money belt worn under your clothes.

-Don't count your money in public. It will attract unwanted attention.

-Carry a photocopy of your passport, ID, visa and entry/exit pages along. Keep the original in your hotel room safe.

-Be vigilant in crowded areas and potentially dangerous times and places.

3. Other Tips
-Try and diversify your money. Have an assortment of cash, credit cards, travellers cheques and bank cards. Also, try to seperate your cash into different piles, and place them in different bags. If one bag is lost, there will be emergency money for you to stand-by.

-Hide your emergency money in weird places. For example, placing it in a pair of rolled up socks.

-Check your credit card restrictions.

Stay safe, stay smart! 

Read more tips on www.natastravel.com/traveltips.aspx

Article brought to you by NATAS.

Korea Grand Sale 2013

Can't get enough of all things Korean? Get your fix with the KOREA GRAND SALE 2013, which will run from 11 January to 28 February 2013, at major shopping areas around the Seoul metropolitan area, Gangwon-do and Jeju-do.

24,000 stores in 20 different fields will be offering international visitors huge discounts, freebies and special offers on shopping, lodging, food beverages, art performances and more. An opening ceremony will be followed by various events, including a K-Pop concert, themed weeks of each participating vendor, and other interactive programs, to encourage visitor participation and elevate the festive atmosphere.

Also during the festival, foreigners will be able to utilize different shuttle buses ensuring convenient transportation. A nationwide circle line shuttle bus for foreigners only, K-Shuttle, is already in operation. These will circle major tourist attractions from Seoul, Gangbuk and Gangnam.

Tourists can download discount coupons from the Korea Grand Sale website and present them at stores. Coupons can be used in online, mobile and paper mode. Expect to see the shuttle bus schedules and coupons up on the website from January 2013 onwards.

For more information, visit:

Korea Grand Sale 2013   
Official website:www.koreagrandsale.co.kr 
Download discount coupons here!
Bus Routes
Southwest course: Seoul - Buyeo - Jeonju - Yeosu - Sucheon - Busan - Seoul
Southeast course: Seoul - Pyeongchang - Gangneung - Wonju - Gyeongju - Busan - Seoul

Article brought to you by the Korean Tourism Organization.

New Tablet App for Korea Travel e-Books

The Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) has launched a new app for tablet that contains Korea tourism promotional publications.

Titled KTO-Books, the app currently contains 22 e-books published by the KTO including Korea Tourist Map, Korea Travel Guide, Photo Gallery, Korean cuisine, Korea's Most Unique Accommodations and UNESCO World Heritages of Korea. It also allows users to bookmark, zoom-in and preview the available content.

Launched in October 2012, the free app is expected to make information gathering and navigation easier for future visitors to Korea using tablets. It is available for free download from the App Store as well as the Google Play Store.

You can also call the 1330 Korea Travel hotline at +82-2-1330,which is available in 4 languages; Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese.

For more information, visit www.visitkorea.or.kr.

Article brought to you by Korean Tourism Organization.