Tourism Organization Announces Contest for Medical Tourism Attraction Support Projects... Up to 30 Million KRW Funding

On-site photo of the '2021 Medical Tourism Specialized Attraction Company Development and Support Project Briefing Session' held on the 19th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 24th that it will hold a public contest for the ‘2021 Medical Tourism Specialized Attraction Agency Development and Support Project.’

Medical tourism specialized attraction agencies assist foreign medical tourists with procedures such as entry into Korea, recommending medical institutions, administrative tasks, stay in Korea, and departure. This contest, which will be held from the 26th to April 16th, is only open to agencies registered as foreign patient attraction businesses. Additionally, if an agency has been selected for a similar support project by another organization, it must submit a business plan that is differentiated from the one submitted to the other organization to participate. Applications can be submitted by sending the application form and business plan via email. Approximately 15 agencies will be selected through a first-round document screening and a second-round presentation evaluation.

Selected agencies will be classified as either top or excellent based on comprehensive evaluation scores, receiving marketing and digital transformation support funds of up to 30 million KRW and 20 million KRW respectively. However, selected agencies must cover at least 10% of the maximum support fund as their own contribution to be used as project expenses. If an agency selected last year is reselected, the total support funds for the previous and current year cannot exceed 30 million KRW. In addition, the organization plans to develop and operate medical tourism capacity-building education, including global medical tourism trends and market-specific medical tourism marketing strategies, for employees of the selected agencies and other attraction agencies.

Kim Kwan-mi, head of the Medical Wellness Team at the organization, stated, “Strengthening the capabilities of attraction agencies is essential for the full-scale attraction of medical tourists after the end of COVID-19,” and added, “This year, we plan to further enhance on-site training for attraction agencies.”

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