Tourism Organization's Regional Tourism Project 'Gwangyang Dure', Winner of 'PATA Gold Awards 2021'

PATA Gold Awards 2021 Award Ceremony Scene.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 15th that 'Gwangwang Dure,' a community-led regional tourism revitalization project, won the Gold Award in the Community-Based Tourism (CBT) category at the ‘PATA Gold Awards 2021’ hosted by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) on the 8th.

PATA is the largest public-private tourism cooperation organization in the Asia-Pacific region, with approximately 82 government agencies worldwide and about 650 member companies including other tourism organizations, airlines, airports, and educational institutions. Every year, through the Gold Awards, it selects outstanding projects and promotional materials from tourism initiatives carried out in the Asia-Pacific region. This year marked the 26th edition.

The PATA Gold Awards 2021, held online from Macau, received 113 entries across 25 categories including marketing, environmental conservation projects, community-based tourism, heritage, and cultural programs conducted in the Asia-Pacific region during 2020. After evaluation, winners were selected in a total of 18 categories based on excellent performance. The community-based tourism category was judged based on benefits from the program and its ripple effects on local communities.

Gwangwang Dure is a representative Korean-style community-based tourism policy project that supports the startup and management improvement of tourism businesses based in local areas, providing related activities support for up to five years to help them establish a stable growth foundation. This project aims for an economic and socio-cultural virtuous cycle between local resident businesses and visiting tourists. Any local resident community wishing to start tourism businesses with unique regional characteristics such as lodging, food, souvenirs, resident travel, and experiences can participate.

Ahn Deok-su, Director of the Tourism Enterprise Support Office at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “This is the first time winning in the community-based tourism category rather than the promotional marketing category at the PATA Gold Awards,” adding, “We plan to develop Gwangwang Dure more systematically and innovatively to nurture local tourism businesses that can enhance the strength of local communities and to promote sustainable regional tourism revitalization.”

Meanwhile, since its inception in 2013, Gwangwang Dure has supported the startup and growth of a total of 606 resident businesses across 85 regions as of August. This year, 22 basic local governments were selected as project areas, and as of September, the final selection process is underway for about 200 resident businesses wishing to participate in the project.

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