'Promising K-Tourism Companies Gathered'... Korea Tourism Organization Hosts Global Challenge Alumni Day

Event to Expand Partnerships with Tourism Companies and Travel Agencies

Travel tech (travel + technology) startups converging under the keyword 'tourism,' ranging from accommodation curation to popular restaurants, experience content, K-pop, and transportation, gathered in one place.

Korea Tourism Organization Hosts 'Tourism Global Challenge Alumni Day'
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 28th that they held the 'Tourism Global Challenge Alumni Day.' The Tourism Global Challenge is a program by the Ministry and the Tourism Organization to nurture travel tech startups. It started in 2020 and has supported about 90 startups to date.

About 150 people, including startups participating in the program, hotel, convention center, travel agency industry officials, and investors, attended the event held on the 27th at Ambassador Seoul Pullman.

In the first part, 44 startups from various fields had one-on-one meetups to find collaboration opportunities. Following that, the second part featured a talk concert sharing cases of collaboration between companies and overseas expansion, along with a networking session for various discussions.

The talk concert featured Lee Jaehwan, Vice President of the Korea Tourism Organization and a founder who achieved overseas expansion; Lee Changhyun, CEO of Globalier; Yoon Hokki, CEO of Glimm Media; and Kim Taeyeop, CEO of Papaya.

Last August, the Korea Tourism Organization opened the Korea Tourism Support Center (KTSC) in Singapore. It supported overseas investment attraction, participation in exhibitions, and business partnership building for 23 companies planning to enter the Southeast Asian market. Startups such as Stayfolio, Tripvitoz, and Globalier are collaborating with Singaporean institutions and companies. The organization stated, "We plan to additionally establish a tourism support center in Tokyo, Japan, in the second half of this year."

Lee Jaehwan, Vice President of the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "Since taking office in January this year, I have traveled to roadshows held in Spain, Germany, the UK, Dubai, and felt that Korea's status has risen," adding, "Thanks to the K-content boom over the past three years during the pandemic, the crisis has rather become an opportunity for tourism startups."

He added, "The potential for travel tech companies based on innovative technology and creative ideas to expand overseas has never been higher," and "We will generously support securing the competitiveness of Korean tourism companies in the global market while strengthening the Korea Tourism Organization's functions and roles as a cooperation platform for the domestic and international tourism industry."

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