Koryo Tours

File:Victory Day Rehearsal, Pyongyang, 2012.jpg

In 1993, Koryo Tours was set up by Nick Bonner and Joshua Green and they have been organizing trips into North Korea since 1993.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/travel/02advkorea.html|title=North Korea Allowing U.S. Visitors (but Time Is Short) |last=Lee|first=Su Hyun|date=October 2, 2005|newspaper=New York Times|accessdate=2008-09-15}}{{Failed verification|date=January 2022}}{{cite news |url=http://www.traveller.com.au/north-korea-tours-simon-cockerell-of-koryo-tours-has-visited-143-times-giq1aa |title=North Korea tours: Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours has visited 143 times |last=Fifield |first=Anna |date=August 5, 2015|newspaper=Washington Post}}

In 1993, Koryo Tours was appointed as a travel specialist by the Korea International Travel Company, part of the Government of North Korea. Koryo Tours takes in over 50% of westerners visiting North Korea. Koryo Tours is responsible for opening up of new destinations in North Korea as well as new activities such as; cycling, educational tours etc.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2004%5C07%5C21%5Cstory_21-7-2004_pg9_16|title=Tough going, but a holiday in North Korea is not impossible|date=July 21, 2004 |newspaper=Daily Times (Pakistan)|accessdate=2008-09-15}}

Koryo Tours was involved in the production of a number of films. The Game of Their Lives (2002), A State of Mind (2004) and Crossing the Line (2006) were documentaries.[http://www.koryogroup.com/newsletter/200808.htm Koryo Quarterly newsletter] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216084752/http://www.koryogroup.com/newsletter/200808.htm |date=2014-12-16 }}, August 2008 Comrade Kim Goes Flying (2012) was a romantic comedy feature film, shot in Pyongyang, with a North Korean cast and crew.{{cite web|url=http://www.comradekimgoesflying.com/ |title=Official website |publisher=Comradekimgoesflying.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-16}}[http://tofilmfest.ca/films/?by=Film&at=Comrade_Kim_Goes_Flying&yr=2012#Comrade_Kim_Goes_Flying "Comrade Kim Goes Flying"], Toronto Film Festival

Koryo Tours also assisted in the production of Aim High in Creation (2013){{Cite web|last=Chan|first=Yuan-Kwan|date=August 9, 2013|title="Aim High in Creation!" – 2013 MIFF Review|url=http://www.meniscuszine.com/articles/2013080924751/aim-high-in-creation-2013-melbourne-international-film-festival-review/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517210511/http://www.meniscuszine.com/articles/2013080924751/aim-high-in-creation-2013-melbourne-international-film-festival-review/|archive-date=May 17, 2018|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Meniscus Magazine}} and Michael Palin in North Korea on ITV (2019).{{Cite web|date=October 15, 2018|title=Michael Palin on North Korea|url=https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/michael-palin-in-north-korea-interview|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Condé Nast Traveler}}

As part of the making of The Game of Their Lives, Koryo Tours organised the return of the North Korean team of the 1966 FIFA World Cup to the United Kingdom in October 2002. Over 100,000 British football fans turned out to welcome the players at various football clubs.

They have organised various cultural exchanges, including music and sport.

Koryo Tours is the exclusive partner for the Pyongyang International Marathon held every April,{{Cite web|date=September 24, 2019|title=Olympians Aimee Fuller and Mirjam Jaeger in the new Olympic Channel documentary "Running in North Korea"|url=https://olympics.com/ioc/news/olympians-aimee-fuller-and-mirjam-jaeger-in-the-new-olympic-channel-documentary-running-in-north-korea|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=International Olympic Committee}}{{Cite news|date=August 23, 2017|title=N. Korea launches new intl. marathon event for Oct.: tour agency|work=The Korea Herald|agency=Yonhap|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170823000429|access-date=August 25, 2021}}{{Cite news|last=Hotham|first=Oliver|date=February 21, 2020|title=North Korea calls off upcoming Pyongyang marathon amid coronavirus fears|work=NK News|url=https://www.nknews.org/2020/02/north-korea-calls-off-upcoming-pyongyang-marathon-amid-coronavirus-fears/|access-date=August 25, 2021}} an event that attracts between hundreds and over 1,000 amateur foreigners a year.{{Cite news|date=April 8, 2018|title=Hundreds of foreigners join Pyongyang race as tensions ease|work=The Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/fefd3fd5073447b0822d8fbc997f54fc|access-date=August 25, 2021}}{{Cite news|date=April 8, 2018|title=Pyongyang marathon: Fewer foreigners compete in North Korea's annual race|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43689051|access-date=August 25, 2021}}

In 2014 Koryo Tours provided the North Korean input for the Korea Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale,{{Cite news|last=Macguire|first=Eoghan|date=July 3, 2014|title=Are hovercrafts [sic] and giant wheels the future of North Korean architecture?|work=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/03/travel/north-korea-architecture/index.html|access-date=August 25, 2021}} curator Minsuk Cho.{{Cite web|last=Rosenfield|first=Karissa|date=May 28, 2014|title=Venice Biennale 2014: Minsuk Cho to Present "Crow's Eye View" of Divided Korea|url=https://www.archdaily.com/510935/venice-biennale-2014-minsuk-cho-to-present-crow-s-eye-view-of-divided-korea|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=ArchDaily}}{{Cite news|last=Winston|first=Anna|date=June 6, 2014|title=Mass Studies brings together North and South Korea with Venice biennale pavilion|work=Dezeen|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/06/korean-pavilion-mass-studies-north-south-venice-architecture-biennale-2014/|access-date=August 25, 2021}} The pavilion won the Golden Lion.{{Cite news|last=Frearson|first=Amy|date=June 7, 2014|title=Korea wins Golden Lion for best pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale|work=Dezeen|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/07/awarded-best-pavilion-at-venice-architecture-biennale/|access-date=August 25, 2021}}

Koryo Tours is the international co-ordinator for the bi-annual Pyongyang International Film Festival which has a local audience total of 120,000. In 2004 and 2006 they screened Bend It Like Beckham, Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie and Bride and Prejudice, each film seen by over 12,000 locals. They assisted the British Embassy with the nationwide broadcast of Bend It Like Beckham on 26 December 2010 (the first western feature film to be broadcast in North Korea).

In conjunction with the North Korean Ministry of Sport, they arranged the first friendship football, ice hockey, cricket, volleyball and ultimate frisbee matches between locals and westerners. In September 2010 with the support of the British Embassy and CLSA to mark ten years of diplomatic relations they took Middlesbrough Women's FC to Pyongyang to play two North Korean teams, both matches watched by 6,000 Korean fans and broadcast nationwide.

Koryo Studio produced Printed in North Korea (2019), which contains a series of linocuts representing everyday life in North Korea.{{Cite web|date=2019|title=Printed in North Korea|url=https://koryostudio.com/publications/printed-in-north-korea/|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Koryo Studio}} Koryo also produced Made in North Korea (2017), which focuses on the graphic design of products made in the country, and an accompanying London exhibition, Made in North Korea (2018).{{Cite web|date=2017|title=Made in North Korea: Graphics From Everyday Life in the DPRK|url=https://koryostudio.com/publications/made-in-north-korea/|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Koryo Studio}}{{Cite web|date=2018|title=Made in North Korea: An exhibition of North Korean graphic ephemera at The House of Illustration, London & Seoul.|url=https://koryostudio.com/exhibitions/made-in-north-korea/|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Koryo Studio}}

2009 in-house publishing of 'The Art of DPRK – North Korean Film Posters'. 2007 produced 'Welcome to Pyongyang' a photographic study with Charlie Crane (winner of the British Journal of Photography International Prize). 2008 co-writer 'A Night in Pyongyang' (mass games photographic book) Werner Kranwetvogel. 2002 Wallpaper Magazine produced and wrote an architectural feature on Pyongyang in conjunction with a North Korean photographer.

In 2012, Koryo Tours released Pyongyang Racer, a racing video game developed by Nosotek with students from the Kim Chaek University of Technology, to promote tourism in North Korea.{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/avnpwz/north-koreas-first-racing-video-game-is-terrible |title=North Korea's First Racing Video Game Is Terrible |first=Nadja |last=Sayej |date=20 February 2013 |website=Vice |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112142230/https://www.vice.com/en/article/avnpwz/north-koreas-first-racing-video-game-is-terrible |url-status=live}}

• Tourism in North Korea

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• [http://www.koryostudio.com Koryo Studio]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20200217212748/http://www.danwei.org/people_nicholas_bonner_and_his.php Danwei Nick Bonner article]
• [http://www.slideshare.net/KoryoTours Slide shows of travel and Koryo Tours projects]
• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8780681/British-travel-company-stages-first-cycling-tour-of-North-Korea.html Koryo Tours bicycle tour in North Korea]

Category:Tourism in North Korea

Category:Companies based in Beijing

Category:Transport companies established in 1993

Category:Travel and holiday companies of China