Tourism Corporation Holds Meeting to Eradicate Overcharging Fees for Restoring Public Trust

Discussion and Campaign Promotion for Overcharging Management Measures

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 6th that they recently held a meeting to eradicate overcharging at festival venues, which has become a recent controversy.

[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The meeting was attended by local governments and agency officials responsible for cultural tourism festivals scheduled for the second half of the year, aiming to prevent issues that could cause inconvenience to the public during festival operations.

They shared best practices such as the Muju Sangol Film Festival, which received favorable reviews for food management, and held a pledge ceremony expressing their determination to eradicate overcharging, thereby establishing a foundation for joint cooperation and response to restore public trust in festivals.

The Ministry and the Organization will promote a “Fair Price Campaign (tentative name)” centered on cultural tourism festivals to accelerate the restoration of trust in festivals. Starting with festivals held in July, food prices will be disclosed in advance, and food information provided by festival operators will be posted on the integrated festival promotion page operated by the Organization, allowing anyone to check it. Festivals that actively participate in this campaign will have expanded opportunities and support to participate in government projects.

At the Muju Mountain Village Film Festival site.
[Photo by Muju Mountain Village Film Festival]

Additionally, to prevent safety and inconvenience issues for the public at festival venues, education for festival operators from July to September will be strengthened, along with on-site monitoring of upcoming festivals, and influencer fam tours will be conducted to promote fair-priced festival food.

Park Daeyoung, head of the Regional Tourism Content Team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “We are jointly promoting projects with festival operators to restore public trust so that recent controversies over overcharging at some festivals do not negatively affect all festivals held domestically and regional tourism revitalization. We will continue to carry out projects to create festivals that satisfy visitors and make them want to return.”

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