Korea Tourism Organization Hosts Tourism Venture Business Contest... Supporting 140 Companies Discovered

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 1st that they will hold the "15th Tourism Venture Business Contest" until April 4th.

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Korea Tourism Organization 'Tourism Venture Project Contest' Poster. [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

Since 2011, the Ministry and the Organization have been hosting the Tourism Venture Business Contest, discovering 1,498 innovative tourism venture companies such as Tripbitoz, Jim Carry, and Gadget Korea, and creating over 4,200 jobs.

This contest will discover and support a total of 140 companies, including 30 preliminary tourism ventures, 70 early-stage tourism ventures, and 40 growth-stage tourism ventures.

Depending on the business content, applicants can choose to apply for support in categories such as ▲Tourism Deep Tech (B2B services that enhance productivity and efficiency in the tourism industry) ▲Tourism Infrastructure (tourism businesses based on facilities and physical resources) ▲Immersive Tourism Content (experience and content development and operation) ▲Tourism Experience Services (providing convenience in tourism such as reservation and payment).

Companies wishing to participate can apply on the official website by 2 PM on March 4th. The preliminary and early-stage tourism venture categories will be selected through a first-round document screening and a second-round presentation screening, while the growth-stage tourism venture category will undergo a third-round on-site inspection before the final announcement at the end of April. Companies located outside the metropolitan area, young entrepreneurs under 39 years old, venture-certified companies, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-type preliminary social enterprises can receive up to 4 bonus points in total, 1 point each, during the document screening.

Selected companies will receive commercialization funds of up to 100 million KRW per company, with an average of 55 million KRW, over approximately seven months until November. Customized support reflecting company needs such as professional consulting, education, promotion, market development, and investment attraction will be provided, along with various collaboration opportunities with the public sector, companies, and organizations. Outstanding companies can participate in mentoring programs conducted with world-leading companies in the tourism sector.

Kwon Jong-sul, Head of the Tourism Enterprise Support Office at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "We expect many capable companies to participate as we actively support tourism ventures to grow as key players leading the expansion of the tourism industry through investment attraction and overseas market entry."

Kim Geun-ho, Director of Tourism Industry Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "We aim to attract 20 million foreign tourists in 2024. We will expand step-by-step support and serve as a catalyst from the planning stage to commercialization funds, legal, marketing, market development, and overseas expansion so that tourism ventures can lead not only innovation in the future tourism industry but also the attraction of foreign tourists."

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