President Moon: "Tourism Cooperation to Promote Daily Life Recovery... Let's Lead Korea-Spain Collaboration"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Spain (Barcelona) = Joint Press Corps - (Seoul) = Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in, who is on a state visit to Spain, stated on the 17th (local time) that "international cooperation for travel and tourism is not only about restarting the tourism industry but also about promoting the recovery of daily life."

President Moon attended the Korea-Spain Tourism Industry Roundtable held at Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona that day and said, "I hope Spain and Korea will take the lead in cooperating and jointly opening a sustainable future for the tourism industry."

President Moon pointed out that the tourism industry has suffered a severe blow due to COVID-19, and that not only aviation but also travel, accommodation, and dining industries are all facing difficulties, emphasizing, "The resumption of travel and tourism will accelerate the recovery of not only the domestic economy but also the global economy."

He introduced that with the expansion of vaccination worldwide, active movements are underway to ease travel restrictions between countries, stating, "Korea has also announced the direction for promoting travel safety zones and is working on plans to resume international tourism."

He also mentioned that 630,000 Korean nationals visited Spain in 2019, just before COVID-19, emphasizing, "Koreans like Spain, and interest in Korea among the Spanish people is also growing."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon said, "Taking this visit to Spain as an opportunity, the governments of both countries have decided to extend the 'Year of Mutual Visits' by one year," and predicted, "Various projects to promote mutual friendship will be carried out, and human exchanges will increase."

This roundtable was held to seek active exchanges between Korea and Spain after COVID-19, with attendees including Reyes Maroto, Spain’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and representatives of airlines and travel agencies from both countries.

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