Kim Jang-sil, President of the Tourism Corporation, "We Will Provide K-Tourism That Moves the World"

Press Conference on the 14th: Vision and Four Key Focus Areas Announced

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] "We will provide new travel experiences by expanding content for foreign tourists."

On the 14th, the Korea Tourism Organization held a press conference at the Seoul Press Center with President Kim Jangsil, who took office last October.

President Kim mentioned the current status of Korea's tourism industry and the changing status of Korean culture, stating that he will promote four key tasks under the slogan "K-Tourism that moves the world and makes the people happy."

First, he emphasized expanding content and providing new travel experiences so that inbound tourists can feel excitement and happiness through their travels. He plans to extend the scope of the Korean Wave beyond popular culture such as K-pop and K-dramas to include classical music, arts, traditional culture, and lifestyle culture such as food, clothing, and shelter. Through focused marketing for the "2023-24 Visit Korea Year," he expressed the determination to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2027.

Additionally, to ensure that citizens can enjoy happy and pleasant travels, he said they will showcase the diverse charms of regional tourism through rich storytelling and overcome crises such as regional population decline through strengthened stay tourism.

Korea Tourism Organization Non-Whole System Diagram. Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

For the industry, he explained plans to discover 1,200 technology-convergent tourism ventures and nurture three tourism unicorn companies through collaborative support for digital transformation and global expansion centered on Korea Tourism's five major platforms.

Lastly, he emphasized the digitalization of tourism throughout the entire travel cycle, including providing personalized tourism services based on data. In particular, he set a goal to achieve 3rd place in the Tourism ICT category of the 2027 World Economic Forum (WEF) Tourism Development Index.

President Kim Jangsil stated, "Seoul ranked 4th worldwide as one of the most searched travel destinations according to recent global travel platforms, raising Korea's status as a tourism destination and increasing the intention to visit. Even amid crises, we will lead change through bold innovation by discarding outdated elements that do not fit the times, and become an organization that communicates with the public, industry, and related institutions to achieve a great leap forward in Korea's tourism industry."

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