Jongno-gu Breathes New Life into Stagnant Tourism Industry... 'Tourism Startup Pitching Day' Successfully Concluded

Education Provided for Middle-Aged Interested in Travel and Tourism Employment and Startups; 40 Graduates Produced... 'Tourism Startup Pitching Day' Event Held on June 19 with Participation of Preliminary Startup Teams Who Completed Training

At the Tourism Startup Pitching Day held on June 19, 'Vegan Hall' (CEO Kim Kwangseop), which chose 'vegetarianism' as its startup item, was selected as the pitching champion.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) has been operating the 'Jongno Cultural Tourism Startup Academy' since 2018 to revitalize the local economy by strengthening capabilities in the tourism sector and supporting startups.

This year as well, from March to April, the academy was held for middle-aged and older adults interested in startups and employment related to travel and tourism industries such as travel agencies and accommodations. The program included education on ▲Cultural Tourism Marketing and Communication ▲Content Planning Methodology and Case Studies ▲Local Tours Learned Through Cases ▲Storytelling Methodology for Successful Tourism ▲Regional Resource Survey Methodology for Local Tour Planning, enhancing participants' expertise.

However, due to the unexpected COVID-19 situation, classes were shifted from offline to online, producing a total of 40 graduates.

As part of this, on June 19, the district organized an event where prospective startup teams who completed the academy presented their business ideas and models in front of industry professionals. A total of seven teams participated in the ‘Tourism Startup Pitching Day’ event, receiving mentoring from experts active in related fields and having a meaningful time to concretize their businesses.

The pitching champion of the day, Vegan Hall (CEO Kim Kwang-seop), proposed a local restaurant startup idea based on veganism, which has recently gained attention due to increasing awareness of health and animal welfare.

The business model, targeting the growing vegan population, offers various vegetarian menus as well as experiential programs, receiving high evaluations from the judges.

For more details about the Jongno Cultural Tourism Academy, please refer to the Jongno-gu Social Economy Support Center website or contact the center’s job project team.

Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, “As COVID-19 prolongs, the travel and performance sectors are also experiencing stagnation. At times like this, we judged it necessary to support residents interested in these fields to enhance their expertise, assist reemployment, and alleviate employment insecurity,” adding, “We will discover various projects to revitalize the stagnant tourism industry and solve unemployment issues for middle-aged and older job seekers hoping for employment.”

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