Incheon, Sokcho, and Suwon Selected as Pilot Cities for Smart Tourism Project

Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 23rd that Incheon Jung-gu, Gangwon Sokcho, and Gyeonggi Suwon have been selected as the final candidates for the first-ever "Smart Tourism City Pilot Project" contest this year.

This project targets areas of approximately 4㎢ or less (such as streets, roads, and tourist complexes) and aims to provide fast and convenient tourism services by integrating Fourth Industrial Revolution-related technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and 5th generation (5G) mobile communications.

The three selected candidate sites will each receive 150 million KRW in support and must establish detailed project plans over two months (July to August), including plans for improving local infrastructure, creating convergence tourism content, and standardization plans for data sharing.

Afterward, through written evaluations and on-site demonstration assessments of the project plans, one final site will be selected in September. The corresponding local government will receive 3.5 billion KRW in national funding with the goal of completing the smart tourism city in the first half of next year.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "By participating in creating tourism services and infrastructure combined with advanced technology elements through public-private cooperation, we aim to revitalize regional tourism, which has been stagnant due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and lay an advanced foundation for the future tourism industry."

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