Seoul City Announces 'Seoul Tourism Rebound' Blueprint... 86 Billion Won Investment

Promotion of 3 Major Strategies and 19 Tasks Including Crisis Support, Recovery Preparation, and Rejump
Support for Industry Survival Such as 2 Million KRW per Company in April 'Recovery Rejump Fund' and Opening of 'Seoul Tourism Plaza'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced a blueprint consisting of a three-step strategy to help 'Seoul Tourism,' which has been in the worst situation due to the prolonged global COVID-19 pandemic lasting over a year, safely overcome the crisis of stagnation and prepare for the post-COVID tourism market that will newly open.

On the 25th, Seoul announced the '2021 Seoul Tourism Rebound Comprehensive Plan' and stated that under the so-called 'SRT Strategy,' which consists of ?Support ?Recovery ?Take-off, it will promote three major strategies and 19 tasks with the blueprint titled 'Post-COVID Era, Overcoming Crisis and Rebounding as a Tourism City Seoul.' A total of 86 billion KRW will be invested.

First, survival is the most urgent situation. Seoul will provide 10 billion KRW in recovery and take-off funds in April (2 million KRW per company) and fully support efforts such as opening the 'Seoul Tourism Plaza.' The tourism content paradigm will also undergo a major transformation to suit the changed tourism environment in the COVID era. Instead of overseas travel, hidden contents of neighborhoods and villages will be discovered to develop small but certain happiness travel courses exploring the 'local.' Starting in May, travel programs that allow 4D experiences of Donuimun and Hanyangdoseong using digital technologies such as AR and VR will also begin. Existing walking tour guides and docents will each introduce online methods.

To enable the tourism industry to preempt the market after COVID, proactive rebound support will also be actively provided. Wellness will be newly included in medical tourism cooperation institutions to expand the medical tourism ecosystem, which has risen further after COVID. Cooperation with travel agencies and hotels will activate luxury-specialized tourism, and hybrid content development utilizing Hallyu will also be pursued.

Seoul plans to steadily implement the comprehensive plan established this time while also formulating the mid-to-long-term plan, 'Seoul Tourism Mid-term Development Plan (2022?2026),' by November. It aims to lead tourism trends that have fundamentally changed due to COVID-19 and include future strategies and visions for Seoul tourism that can evolve even in crisis situations like the current one.

Joo Yong-tae, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, “Seoul’s tourism industry will lead changing tourism trends and create an industrial ecosystem where domestic and international tourists can safely visit Seoul after COVID, preparing step by step so that Seoul tourism can draw a recovery graph.” He added, “I think this is a breathing period for Seoul tourism, which is virtually at a standstill, to evolve to the next level, and we will do our best to overcome this difficult situation.”

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