“Tourism is very important. Koreans first come here as tourists and after getting to know the city they want to invest”. Mihee Seo, director and founder of the Barcelona-based consultancy firm Oast, anticipates an increase in investments from South Korea in Barcelona given that knowledge of the city, of Catalonia and of Spain is increasing notably in this Asian country.
The best example is her own experience. She came to Barcelona as a student to stay for two weeks and stayed two months. Later on, when, aged 30, she decided to take control of her life and leave the Korean multinational Samsung and the elite neighbourhood of Gangnam in Seoul (made famous by the rapper PSY), she remembered the days she had spent in the Gràcia neighbourhood, the multicultural experience of la Rambla (where she sold paintings she had done herself to cover her living costs) and the delight in life that she discovered in the Mediterranean city. The result: she decided to open an international consultancy here that acts as a bridge to attract investment from Korea and Japan.
Koreans, she states, now have larger salaries than the Japanese, and when they travel they do not spare their money. They want high-quality innovative entertaining ideas, and, above all, authenticity. As tourists they take great interest in culture and look to increase their children’s educational input by visiting the works of Gaudí, Picasso and Miró. For them, education is the most important thing, and it is what enables them to differentiate themselves in Korea’s competitive society. Furthermore, a significant percentage of the population is Christian and so the Sagrada Familia is a must-see with Montserrat increasingly becoming one too.
After studying psychology, economics and business studies at a women’s university in Seoul, she continued her studies in accountancy in the United States before joining Samsung where she worked in the department responsible for analysing foreign takeovers, shareholdings and partnerships. At the age of 30 she decided to change her life and devote herself to running a consultancy in Barcelona, where she combines this work with classes at business schools and conferences.
In Barcelona she became aware that in Korea all of her time was taken up by her work or her family. Here she has learnt to take better care of herself and dedicate the necessary time to herself. One of the things that struck her the most was seeing how people in Barcelona from different social classes (from a cleaner to a doctor) relate freely and, within a happy atmosphere, talk about anything: about life in general. This was a small shock for her because, she explains, Korean society is very hierarchical.
Mihee, who now lives in the Eixample district and enjoys photography and using the city’s Bicing bike-hire scheme, says that despite their strong work ethic the Koreans “are the Latinos” of Asia and they love dancing, having fun and socialising. She believes that Koreans are eager to discover more about Barcelona and get to know it better and so she recommends that more information be made available in their language or in English. Her compatriots love shopping and good food and they follow the recommendations of Naver, the Korean Google. She has already witnessed how a restaurant, a churro shop and a micro-brewery that she recommended filled up with Koreans.
barcelonaturisme.com
