"Attracting 20 Million Visitors to Korea" Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Increases Tourism Budget by 6.6% to 1.3 Trillion Won

Increase of 81.4 Billion KRW from Last Year
Increased Budget for Korea Visit Year and K-Tourism Mega Roadshow Projects
Expanded Budget for Regional Tourism Activation Including Southern Area Wide Tourism Development

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 3rd that it has allocated a budget of 1.3115 trillion KRW for the tourism sector this year to achieve 20 million inbound tourists and to expand regional tourism.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is speaking at the announcement event of the Southern Region Metropolitan Tourism Plan held on the 22nd at Tongyeong International Music Hall in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

This represents an increase of 81.4 billion KRW (6.6%) compared to last year, which is twice the average government expenditure growth rate of 2.8%. This year, the government will invest 17.8 billion KRW in the 2023-2024 Visit Korea Year events, an increase of 7.8 billion KRW from last year.

Various events will be held throughout the year, including the 'Korea Grand Sale' (January-February), 'Korea Beauty Festival' (June), and large-scale Hallyu festivals (September). Overseas, 7.6 billion KRW will be spent on the 'K-Tourism Mega Roadshow' held in 25 major cities worldwide to convert the global Hallyu fever into demand for Korean tourism.

Although there is new inbound demand, 4 billion KRW will be invested to establish Korean tourism promotion offices in 10 countries such as Saudi Arabia and Brazil, where the Korea Tourism Organization has no overseas branches. Through this, customized tourism themes will be developed and local exchange networks established to pioneer new markets.

Following last year, 17.8 billion KRW will be allocated again this year for the '2023-2024 Visit Korea Year' to continue various events.

At Incheon Airport, 3 billion KRW has been newly allocated to create a K-Tourism & Culture Zone to promote famous spots and major events across Korea to foreign visitors through immersive content. A new project will be launched with an investment of 250 million KRW to discover hidden tourism resources and produce and distribute engaging short-form videos as promotional materials.

K-tourism content will also be actively fostered. 2.5 billion KRW has been newly assigned to select and nurture 'global festivals' that can be enjoyed by people worldwide beyond local festivals.

Minister Yoo In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (left) and Lee Boo-jin, Chairperson of the Korea Visit Year Committee, are taking a commemorative photo at the tourism strategy meeting on the occasion of the "2023-2024 Korea Visit Year." [Image source=Yonhap News]

The 'Korea Dullegil' trail, completed last year, will be developed into a world-class tourist attraction. A new project called the 'Korea Dullegil Global Branding Project' will be launched with an investment of 1.3 billion KRW to promote exchanges and publicity with famous overseas trails and develop customized content. New walking travel courses will be developed, guidance systems expanded, and stamp tours activated.

110 billion KRW has been allocated to Hallyu tourism utilizing K-pop, K-drama, and other K-content, and 3.9 billion KRW to sports tourism incorporating K-sports to revitalize these sectors. To seize the recently spotlighted 'healing tourism' market leveraging world-class medical services and K-beauty trends, 12.5 billion KRW has been allocated for support.

304 billion KRW has been assigned to support the revitalization of high value-added K-MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) by expanding convention development projects and supporting the attraction and hosting of international conferences.

The number of themed tourism courses linking historical, cultural, and tourism resources near the Blue House will be expanded from 10 last year to 20 this year. Exhibition and performance programs, as well as rest and convenience facilities, will also be expanded. A new project with a budget of 200 million KRW will be launched to develop storytelling tourism resources by adding interesting stories to lesser-known tourist assets.

Jeju Workation
Photo by Asia Economy DB

Various projects will be promoted to activate stay-type regional tourism to address the issue of tourist concentration in certain areas.

30 billion KRW will be invested in the digital tourism resident card project, which offers discount benefits, to transition from a pilot project to a new business. 1.9 billion KRW has been allocated to expand the workation project, a new tourism trend combining work and vacation.

48 billion KRW has been allocated to create 'night tourism specialized cities' equipped with content, scenic spots, and tourism conditions to encourage longer stays and overnight visits in regions, further spreading stay-type regional travel.

278 billion KRW will be invested in the southern region's wide-area tourism development project, which officially starts this year, supporting the discovery and development of region-led tourism content. 5.2 billion KRW has been allocated to activate island tourism and strengthen regional balanced tourism development projects that discover and nurture uniquely attractive local resources.

16 billion KRW has been allocated to improve the quality of regional tourism services. Joint inspection teams involving public participation will operate at major tourist sites to lead improvements in tourism service quality such as accommodation, transportation, and food. A 'Fair Coexistence Center' will be established to receive reports of unfair trade practices in the travel industry and provide legal consultation. Public-private cooperation will continue to conduct regular on-site inspections as part of self-regulation efforts.

In line with the government's 'vulnerable-friendly' policy, the budget for open tourism sites for tourism-vulnerable groups has been increased to 10.7 billion KRW, and 2.5 billion KRW has been allocated for barrier-free tourism city projects.

Open Tourist Site_Boryeong Daecheon Beach [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

Additionally, the number of open tourism sites will be significantly expanded from 20 to 30 annually. One more barrier-free tourism city will be selected to resolve issues related to transportation and accommodation for the disabled, supporting travel without restrictions for everyone.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has greatly expanded the tourism fund loan program to 636.5 billion KRW to promote facility investment and support management in tourism businesses.

The tourism fund loan will be operated at 536.5 billion KRW, an increase of 90 billion KRW from the previous year. Separately, the interest subsidy project, piloted in the second half of last year, will be increased by 2.6 billion KRW to a total of 10 billion KRW.

To help small and medium-sized travel agencies lacking distribution channels secure self-sustainability, 400 million KRW will be newly invested in the 'SME Travel Agency Travel Product Distribution Support Project,' which supports entry into online distribution channels and security certification procedures.

To strengthen the digital transformation and future growth foundation of the tourism industry accelerated since COVID-19, startup support and tailored support for tourism ventures at each growth stage will be enhanced. The 'Tourism Enterprise Innovation Voucher Support Project,' which subsidizes digital innovation activities of tourism companies, will be expanded with an investment of 6.3 billion KRW. Additionally, 15.8 billion KRW has been allocated to support the training of future tourism talents responding to industry digital workforce demand.

The overseas tourism enterprise support centers, previously operated in two locations?Singapore and Tokyo?will receive an increased budget of 1.8 billion KRW, up 700 million KRW from the previous year, to establish one more center to support the overseas expansion and growth of Korean tourism companies.

Minister Yoo In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "We have significantly expanded the tourism sector budget to attract 20 million foreign tourists and enable the tourism industry to achieve its best-ever performance. Following last year, we will continue the large-scale 'Visit Korea Year' events this year and spare no effort to support Korean tourism to take a leap forward by discovering competitive K-tourism content."

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