Support for Revitalizing Commercial Areas Linked to Tourist Attractions and Traditional Markets... "Alleviating Difficulties of Small Business Owners and Self-Employed"

Developing Travel Agency Tour Products and Discounts Linked to Tourist Attractions Inspire 'Proactive Administration'
"Commercializing Traditional Market Tourism, Revitalizing Local Economy... Alleviating Small Business Owners' Difficulties"

The photo shows the 114,000-ton cruise ship 'Costa Serena,' which departed Incheon Port on October 8 last year carrying about 2,400 tourists, visited China, Japan, and Russia, and docked at Sokcho Port on the 15th of the same month. The government aims to revitalize the local economy by drawing inspiration from exemplary cases such as the Sokcho Tourism and Fisheries Market, which developed survival strategies linked to tourist attractions. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced that it will focus on promoting measures to revitalize local commercial districts by linking tourist attractions with traditional markets. The aim is to alleviate the difficulties faced by small business owners and self-employed individuals.

According to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission on the 28th, preparations have begun to develop support measures for local small business owners and self-employed individuals struggling due to COVID-19 and other factors.

First, they plan to create practical improvement measures through on-site surveys, meetings, and big data analysis of civil complaints. The Commission has been holding meetings and visiting major traditional markets across the country to listen to the difficulties of small business owners.

Through this, they identified issues such as ▲lack of sustainable customer attraction strategies in small cities ▲absence of strategies to revitalize traditional markets linked to tourist attractions ▲lack of cohesion and development will among merchants ▲discontinuation of market revitalization projects after government support ends ▲mismanagement of project funds not suited to market realities.

Traditional markets in South Korea are steadily shrinking. According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service's "Traditional Market, Merchant, and Store Management Survey Report," the number of traditional markets decreased from 1,660 in 2005 to 1,517 in 2010 and 1,439 in 2015. Sales also dropped from 32.7 trillion won in 2005 to 24 trillion won in 2010 and 21.1 trillion won in 2015.

Complaints are also rapidly increasing. Over the past three years, more than 12,600 complaints related to traditional markets have been filed through the National Ombudsman. Major issues include dissatisfaction with facility improvement projects, parking problems, disputes between merchant associations, and lease rights conflicts.

In response, the Commission seeks to gain insights from exemplary cases observed in some markets such as Sokcho Tourist Fisheries Market and Tourist Seocheon Seafood Specialty Market.

These markets have implemented ▲development of travel agency tour products and services linked with nearby tourist attractions offering discount benefits ▲activation of transactions through a customer-tailored direct trading system for local specialties ▲securing transportation facilities and parking spaces connecting tourist sites and markets ▲promoting coexistence within the market by coordinating overlapping products between local agricultural cooperatives (Hanaro Mart) and market sales items ▲strengthening expertise and solidarity through merchant specialization education and visits to other markets.

Photo by Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Commission plans to establish development measures linking local tourism resources and traditional markets. By commercializing traditional markets as tourist products and revitalizing the local economy, they aim to actively resolve the difficulties of socially vulnerable groups such as small self-employed business owners.

They will present tailored improvement measures for each stage of market development through model cases. They will analyze on-site difficulties related to government support projects and prepare customized improvement plans.

The step-by-step plan for resolving complaints and revitalizing traditional markets follows the sequence: 'National traditional market complaint analysis → On-site survey of traditional markets in major tourist areas → Discovery of win-win development models for traditional markets and promotion of institutional improvements → Resolution of small business owners' difficulties and revitalization of the local economy.'

Vice Chairman Kwon Tae-sung of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said, "This year, we plan to focus on win-win development linking tourist attractions and traditional markets, revitalizing local commercial districts, and resolving the difficulties of small business owners. We will actively carry out administration by listening to diverse voices centered on the field and preparing effective improvement measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.