[The Evolution of Smart Festivals]② 'Smart Tourism Solution Project', Innovation for New Festivals

Interview with Kim Dong-il, Director of Tourism Industry Headquarters at Korea Tourism Organization

The ‘Chukjipsa (Festival Butler)’ service recently introduced by the Korea Tourism Organization’s Smart Tourism Team at the Gwangju Chungjang Festival is gaining significant attention. This service successfully addressed chronic issues at festival sites by utilizing technologies such as smart parking, safety management, and congestion analysis. Based on these achievements, the Korea Tourism Organization plans to further expand the ‘Chukjipsa’ service from 2025 to solve various problems at tourism sites.

Kim Dong-il, Director of the Tourism Industry Headquarters at the Korea Tourism Organization.
Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

On the 19th, at the ‘2025 Smart Tourism Expansion Event: Suhwakhaeng,’ Kim Dong-il, Director of the Tourism Industry Headquarters at the Korea Tourism Organization, explained the background of developing ‘Chukjipsa’: “One reason Koreans prefer overseas travel is the lack of attractions domestically, so we aimed to develop tourism content with unique characteristics for each region.” Director Kim emphasized, “While existing projects focused only on differentiation, making expansion difficult and often neglecting tourist convenience, this project introduced a method of solving unresolved tourism issues from the perspective of technology experts.”

‘Chukjipsa’ Started as a ‘Smart Local Tourism Problem-Solving Project’

To this end, the Korea Tourism Organization held a hackathon and collaborated with five selected technology companies to begin developing the ‘Chukjipsa’ service. Director Kim stated, “The selection of technology companies targeted those that have already completed technologies applicable to current challenges, rather than startups or companies with ideas only.”

On October 2, the opening day of the 21st Gwangju Nostalgic Chungjang Festival, citizens are enjoying the festival at Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju. Photo by Yonhap News

The ‘Chukjipsa’ service was first piloted at the Gwangju Chungjang Festival, selected through this year’s contest. As Director Kim explained, “We aimed first to solve chronic festival problems, and as a result, the Chungjang Festival became much safer and more convenient than before.” Applying advanced technologies such as smart parking, safety management, and congestion analysis, ‘Chukjipsa’ effectively resolved on-site issues and greatly enhanced visitor satisfaction. In particular, real-time program information, smart maps, and smart parking services were praised for helping visitors enjoy the festival more easily and pleasantly.

The companies participating in the development of the ‘Chukjipsa’ service were selected based on their unique technological capabilities. Vestella Lab provided a video-based integrated parking information system to solve parking issues during large festivals, Deepfine built a smart map service based on XR spatial information construction solutions, and UDID reduced long waiting times and improved operational efficiency through smartphone-based credit card transactions and QR ordering technology.

Smart Parking Service, part of the 'Chukjipsa' program applied at the Gwangju Chungjang Festival site. [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

Pitch AI’s congestion prediction service, based on floating population analysis, guided visitors safely through digital signage content delivery. The city’s festival-utilized outdoor mobile AED kiosks strengthened festival safety by deploying outdoor AED kiosks for emergency use during outdoor activities.

Director Kim plans to expand the ‘Chukjipsa’ project beyond festivals to various tourism sites such as traditional markets, themed streets, campgrounds, natural tourist spots, and event venues. He emphasized, “This project not only discovered ideas but also presented a new blueprint for smart tourism by solving local tourism problems through collaboration with technologically capable private companies,” adding, “We will continue to develop smart tourism services that local residents can experience firsthand and contribute to revitalizing regional tourism.”

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