South Korean sitcom featuring Spain provokes upsurge in tourism from the Asian country
Sunday, June 1, 2014 @ 6:32 PM
SOUTH Koreans have 'fallen in love' with Spain thanks to a TV comedy aired in the country featuring four elderly actors visiting various cities in the country.
Ggot Boda Halbe ('grandparents/the elderly are better than flowers', a parody of the soap opera titled Boys are better than flowers) has broken audience records in the east Asian country and travel agencies say requests for flights or package holidays to Spain have rocketed since it was first broadcast.
The eight episodes of the latest series, which started in March, shows actors and actresses Lee Soon-Jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun-Hyung and Baek Il-Seop, led by 43-year-old presenter Lee Seo-Jin taking tours of Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Segovia and Ronda – cities which thousands of South Koreans, over 10,000 kilometres away, have now begun to book tickets to visit.
A 24-year-old student, who is studying Spanish at a South Korean university, said he had 'always wanted' to go to Spain, but the sight of Madrid with its Neo-Classical architecture on the popular show pushed him to book a flight for August this year.
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