Gwangju City Selected as First Preliminary Candidate Site for Smart Tourism City Development Project

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 23rd that it has been selected as one of the six preliminary candidate cities in the first round of the 2021 Smart Tourism City Creation Project organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Smart Tourism City Creation Project is funded with 3.5 billion KRW of national funds by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to provide differentiated travel experiences, convenience, and services through the convergence of tourism elements and technology elements.

In particular, a smart infrastructure will be established to create a smart tourism ecosystem.

This project started for the first time last year with participation from 21 local governments, and this year 28 local governments participated, with six cities including Gwangju selected as preliminary candidates in the first screening.

Gwangju participated in this contest under the theme "1980 Geumnam-ro Heritage, Meeting AI Gwangju," which digitalizes the historical, cultural, and artistic resources scattered throughout the city center.

The plan is to create tourism content that reflects Gwangju’s past, present, and future coexistence, establishing a Gwangju-type smart tourism city that integrates smart technology.

At the presentation evaluation meeting held in Seoul on the 24th for the selection of the second candidate cities, Kim Jun-young, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Office, will emphasize Gwangju’s high level of digital readiness as the only AI-centered city in Korea with smart capabilities and infrastructure, and explain the differentiated Gwangju-specialized smart tourism policy.

Director Kim said, “The Smart Tourism City Creation Project builds a smart tourism platform, collects and analyzes tourist data to predict tourists’ needs in advance, and provides customized tourism services. It is a golden opportunity for Gwangju to leap forward as an AI tourism city.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will select and announce three second-round preliminary candidate cities at the end of March after the presentation evaluation of the six first-round preliminary candidate cities. Then, in May, the final city will be selected through an on-site demonstration.

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