KOTRA rolls up sleeves for B2B2C export push at Germany K-Culture and Tourism Festival

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency announced Monday that it held the "2026 K-Culture and Tourism Festival" at Galeria, a department store emblematic of Frankfurt's consumer culture, over two days beginning Friday, in partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization and local governments. The event aims to build a virtuous cycle linking the spread of hallyu across Europe with expanded exports of Korean consumer goods.

The festival brought together government ministries, agencies and local governments to jointly promote hallyu, Korean consumer products and tourism. Participating organizations included KOTRA, the Korea Tourism Organization, the Korea Creative Content Agency, the Korean Cultural Center in Germany, the Korean Education Center in Germany and two local governments.

Germany is Europe's largest consumer market, with a food market worth 250 billion euros ($291 billion) and a cosmetics market worth 18 billion euros, making it a key gateway for Korean food and beauty brands entering Europe. KOTRA said it plans to use Germany as a springboard to expand hallyu and Korean consumer goods exports across the continent.

During the festival, KOTRA held a B2C promotional showcase targeting German consumers alongside a B2B export consultation session with local buyers, allowing Korean companies to gauge real-time market reactions and pursue export opportunities on the spot.

The promotional event featured 80 Korean consumer goods companies — including APR, CosRX, Artbox and Lock&Lock — displaying and selling more than 250 products. Seventeen mid- to large-sized German distributors, including Vibe Seoul, Momogo and Nemo, also actively participated by supporting the display and sale of Korean products. Live sales over the two days reached 20,000 euros.

A representative of Momogo, a German distributor that took part in the consultation session, said hallyu has already established itself as mainstream culture in Germany and that the consumer base for Korean food such as tteokbokki and ramyun has broadened to span children through middle-aged adults. "This event, which lets people experience culture, consumer goods and tourism all in one place, will further accelerate that momentum," the representative said.

KOTRA also held a concurrent "Gangwon Province Germany Export Road Show" featuring five promising companies from Gangwon Province. The session brought together 13 local buyers — including TEDi, a large German discount retailer often compared to Daiso — for export consultations with the five Gangwon firms.

The festival also drew strong responses from visitors through a range of interactive cultural events, including K-pop performances, cover dance competitions, traditional Korean cultural performances and experiences, and drawing shows.

Kim Yeon-jae, head of KOTRA's Europe regional headquarters, said the festival gave the government, agencies and local governments a chance to work together to broadly spread the value of Korean consumer goods, content and lifestyle at the heart of Europe. "We will do our utmost to channel the demand uncovered during the festival into sustained support — helping Korean consumer goods companies secure shelf space in German and European distribution networks and driving second and third rounds of export growth," Kim said.

Meanwhile, KOTRA has been actively supporting Korean exporters in finding alternative markets and diversifying their export destinations amid the US-Iran war. Since July, it has been running an "Online Trade Mission — Expanding Export Markets" program to help domestic exporters chart new paths forward.