Seoul City "Completed Support of Approximately 1.4 Billion Won to 200 Travel Agencies"

Support up to 10 million KRW per company

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Foundation announced on the 28th that they have been promoting the 'Seoul-style Inbound Travel Activation Support' project since May this year to help the tourism industry, which suffered from the COVID-19 downturn, prepare for the full-scale resumption of tourism and the rapid influx of foreign tourists, and have completed support of about 1.4 billion KRW to 200 travel agencies by the end of the year.

The support was provided in the form of reimbursement for various expenses associated with attracting foreign tourists, ranging from operating costs for safe travel such as PCR tests and purchasing quarantine supplies to promotion and marketing expenses and training costs for tourism industry workers.

In addition to financial support, Seoul City provided multifaceted assistance to participating companies. They offered opportunities to participate in various experiences helpful for developing new tourism content, such as open tours of the Blue House and pre-inspection trips (fam tours) to urban hiking tourism centers, and gave priority participation opportunities in Seoul Tourism Foundation business briefings and global online travel agency (OTA) collaborative marketing briefings. They also actively supported the overall operation of the project by guiding the ‘Seoul Tourism Health Doctor Program’ operated by the Seoul Workers’ Health Center.

A survey of participating companies showed an overall satisfaction rate of 94.2%, and 95% responded that the project was practically helpful for the resumption of inbound tourism, concluding the project with positive feedback from the participants.

Baek Gyuseok, CEO of Nurimice, who participated in the project, said, “Despite the difficult situation due to COVID-19, thanks to this support project, we were able to restart the travel business with hope.” He added, “We saw hope by trying a new attempt to develop an app that provides K-Beauty information and tourism content, and in the future, we plan to take on various challenges such as collaborating with K-Beauty companies. We hope for continuous support from Seoul City and the Seoul Tourism Foundation.”

Meanwhile, since February 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began, Seoul City and the Seoul Tourism Foundation have provided support nine times in total, assisting 13,082 companies with about 38.4 billion KRW to help the tourism industry overcome the crisis.

Choi Kyungjoo, Director of the Tourism and Sports Bureau of Seoul City, said, “The tourism industry has experienced unprecedented difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the endemic approaches, the tourism industry is being revived. Seoul City will do its best to help the tourism industry recover quickly.”

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