K-drama scenes become real travel destinations

Korea Tourism Organization launches 'K-Drama Experience Exhibition'

Iconic scenes linked to actual filming locations across Korea

Studio Dragon contributes IP free of charge under two-year MOU

16 travel products offered through online travel agency KKday

A foreign tourist examines the actual piano featured in the drama series "Forhands" at the Sound zone of the K-Drama Experience Exhibition. [Kim Myung-sang]

"The key is not to stop at consuming iconic scenes on screen, but to connect viewers to real travel destinations across Korea."

Baek Man-seong, head of the Korea Tourism Organization's hallyu content team, outlined the vision behind the "K-Drama Experience Exhibition — Where Scenes Become Destinations," which opened Monday at Hiker Ground in Jung-gu, Seoul. Co-organized by the Korea Tourism Organization and Studio Dragon, the exhibition runs through Nov. 19. It was designed to channel the interest of foreign visitors and domestic fans of K-drama content toward real tourism sites beyond the screen.

The entrance to the K-Drama Experience Exhibition [Kim Myung-sang]

The exhibition spotlights iconic lines, scenes, soundtracks, props and filming locations from more than 40 drama series, including "Goblin," "Mr. Sunshine," "Hotel del Luna," "Crash Landing on You" and "The Tyrant's Chef." The space is divided into five zones — Script, Scene, Sound, Prop and Location — with the entry area styled as a check-in lounge inspired by "Hotel del Luna."

A writer experience zone where visitors can try their hand at scriptwriting [Kim Myung-sang]

Visitors move through the five zones in sequence, collecting personalized content along the way. In the Script zone, more than 70 memorable lines scroll on rotating boards; visitors can scan QR codes to watch edited clips and pick up quote postcards. A writer experience station lets them read a script scenario and type out lines on Korean- and English-language typewriters.

In the Scene zone, tapping an RFID card against one of five landscape keywords — city, sea, nature and others — triggers iconic scenes on a six-panel wide media wall. Visitors can also browse 12 landscape postcards and leaf through actual drama scripts on display.

A foreign visitor listens to music in the Sound zone of the K-Drama Experience Exhibition. [Kim Myung-sang]

The Sound zone lets visitors listen to OST playlists across six themes and collect 12 mini LP pieces. The Prop zone showcases actual drama props loaned free of charge by Studio Dragon, with prop stickers available for visitors to take. The final Location zone connects drama filming sites to a map, guiding visitors to real destinations around the country.

A QR code directing visitors to travel destinations tailored to their personal preferences [Kim Myung-sang]

At the end of the exhibition route, visitors scan the barcodes of their collected items at a kiosk to receive a QR code ticket. Scanning that code on a smartphone instantly pulls up personalized regional travel itineraries and links to a travel product page where visitors can book trips to the actual filming locations.

Event page for the 'K-Drama Filming Location Travel' promotion

To turn exhibition visits into actual travel, the Korea Tourism Organization has partnered with global online travel agency KKday on a "K-Drama Filming Location Travel" promotion. Around 16 themed travel products tied to drama filming sites are currently on sale.

A drama script bearing handwritten autographs from the cast [Kim Myung-sang]

The exhibition grew out of an MOU the Korea Tourism Organization and Studio Dragon signed in June. The two-year agreement centers on staging exhibitions using drama intellectual property and building on-site tourism content at filming locations. Studio Dragon has committed to providing its IP free of charge and to participating in future infrastructure development.

"If this year's exhibition is the foundational step that drives visits to existing filming locations, from next year we will reinforce infrastructure at filming hubs nationwide to encourage longer stays," Baek said. "We will complete a sustainable tourism model that uses drama IP as a vehicle to draw foreign visitors and spread them across different regions of the country."

terry@heraldcorp.com