Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Selects 142 Companies for Tourism Business Voucher Support Program

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 10th that it has selected 142 beneficiary companies through the '2021 Tourism Enterprise Voucher Support Project Contest.'

A total of 303 companies applied for this contest. After document review and presentation evaluation, 20 companies were finally selected for the large voucher (voucher worth 100 million KRW), 20 companies for the medium voucher (voucher worth 50 million KRW), and 102 companies for the small voucher (voucher worth 20 million KRW).

Looking at the industries of the selected companies, there were 94 travel agencies, 13 content development companies, 10 tourism support service companies, 4 international conference companies, 3 lodging and recreation companies, 4 souvenir manufacturing and sales companies, 2 transportation and rental companies, and 12 others. Compared to last year, the dominance of the travel industry stood out. This is interpreted as an attempt by many traditional tourism companies, including the travel industry which has been severely affected by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, to enhance adaptability by shifting to a digital environment.

The selected companies can receive support for a total of 792 innovative activity services in areas such as tourism innovation service development, tourism innovation service implementation, business consulting, digital capability enhancement, promotion, marketing, advertising, and design development.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a contest from March 30 to April 12 to select companies providing innovative activity services and selected 46 companies. Including the 93 companies that participated in the first-year project at the end of last year, a total of 139 companies are participating in this year's project to support innovation activities of tourism enterprises.

Voucher service providers are domestic registered companies, schools, research institutes, etc., with a high understanding of the tourism industry, and can participate anytime through the dedicated innovation voucher website.

Various programs are also operated to support the innovative activities of beneficiary companies. Experts with more than five years of practical experience in 13 different fields participate as voucher sponsors, providing know-how through consultations before project commencement as well as ongoing advice, supporting effective project implementation.

Additionally, regular online and offline exchange events are held to share the achievements of excellent projects and information among companies to strengthen connections and collaboration between beneficiary companies and service providers. A voucher competition is also planned at the end of the year to promote active communication and cooperation between beneficiary companies and service providers. After this year’s project concludes, the results of individual voucher projects will be evaluated, and outstanding companies and projects will be actively promoted.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "We will continue to expand the voucher support project so that tourism companies struggling due to COVID-19 can respond to environmental changes and strengthen their competitiveness. We will help create a virtuous cycle of knowledge and technology within the industry to strengthen the competitiveness of the industrial ecosystem in the long term.”

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