Passage of the Healing Tourism Industry Act in the National Assembly... Establishing a Foundation for Wellness Industry Development

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that the bill for the "Act on the Promotion of the Healing Tourism Industry (Healing Tourism Industry Act)," aimed at systematically fostering the healing tourism industry to create new regional tourism attractions and establish a growth foundation, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 20th.

The Healing Tourism Industry Act is a unified and enacted law combining related bills proposed by Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party and Kim Yoon-duk of the Democratic Party of Korea.

This Healing Tourism Industry Act defines "healing tourism," globally known as "wellness tourism," as "tourism activities that utilize healing tourism resources such as landscapes, hot springs, food, and barefoot walking trails to promote health recovery and enhancement, and pursue an improved quality of life." It also specifies definitions for healing tourism resources and healing tourism facilities, indicating the policy targets and objectives. Furthermore, it stipulates the establishment of basic plans for fostering the healing tourism industry and various national support measures.

Additionally, this bill enables the establishment of cooperative systems that can link and utilize various healing resources with tourism, and lays the groundwork for more systematic development of the healing tourism industry through the introduction of a registration system by creating a new business category for healing tourism projects.

According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness tourism market size reached approximately $830.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.2% until 2028. With the worldwide increase in healing tourism activities, healing tourism resources, and healing tourism facilities that seek physical and mental healing and balance, the passage of this bill is expected to serve as a foundation for fostering the healing tourism industry.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that, taking this bill’s passage as an opportunity, it will diligently prepare subordinate legislation containing more detailed provisions in preparation for the bill’s enforcement one year later, and will establish a basic plan for fostering the healing tourism industry to promote various support measures for private sector operators.

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