Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Expands Operation of Tourist Resident Cards to 44 Areas to Support Population Decline Regions

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 26th that, together with the Korea Tourism Organization, it will expand the operation areas of the 'Digital Tourist Resident Card' service, which offers various benefits when traveling to population-declining areas, from the existing 34 locations to 44 locations starting at the end of April. The 44 locations correspond to about half (49.4%) of the 89 population-declining areas designated and announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in October 2021.

The Digital Tourist Resident Card was introduced in 2022 through a pilot operation in two regions: Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, and Okcheon, Chungbuk Province, to revitalize tourism in population-declining areas. The target areas were gradually expanded to 15 regions in 2023 and 34 regions in 2024, with the cumulative number of issued tourist resident cards surpassing 4.11 million by the end of last year.

The Tourist Resident Card is an honorary resident card issued by region (cannot be issued in the holder's own address area) that allows users to enjoy travel benefits such as accommodation, dining, viewing, experiences, and shopping in the issuing region.

The 10 newly selected local governments for the Tourist Resident Card operation areas are Cheorwon-gun in Gangwon, Boryeong-si in Chungnam, Gimje-si in Jeonbuk, Gurye-gun, Gokseong-gun, and Hampyeong-gun in Jeonnam, Cheongdo-gun and Uiseong-gun in Gyeongbuk, Miryang-si in Gyeongnam, and Dong-gu in Busan. The benefits of the Tourist Resident Card, which were previously provided at about 830 tourist facilities and businesses in 34 regions, will be expanded to over 1,000 locations in 44 regions. Representative new travel benefits include ▲ 50% discount on admission to Hantangang Columnar Jointing Trail in Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon, ▲ 20% discount on Sky Bike experience at Daecheon Beach in Boryeong-si, Chungbuk, and ▲ 30% discount on admission to Provence Photo Land in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongbuk.

On January 11th, tourists visiting the '2025 Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking Festival,' which opened in the Hantan River area of Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon, are enjoying winter along with the volcanic terrain scenic spots such as columnar joints.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to hold various events to encourage the use of the expanded Tourist Resident Card service operation areas.

First, from March 26 to April 4, in collaboration with Korea Airports Corporation, an online event will be held offering 50 domestic flight tickets (Jin Air open tickets) to Tourist Resident Card holders. Detailed information can be found on the official Instagram of the Digital Tourist Resident Card.

Additionally, a 'Travel Luck of the Month' event will be held, providing travel benefits such as accommodation and experience vouchers worth from 10,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW every month through a lottery for Tourist Resident Card users. A 'Digital Tourist Resident Card Specialized Train' product, allowing enjoyable travel to the Tourist Resident Card operation areas by Korail trains, is also scheduled to operate at the end of April.

The Tourist Resident Card can be issued through the 'Korea Tourism' website and mobile application (app). After obtaining the card, users can scan the QR codes placed at tourist facilities and businesses in the respective regions to receive various travel discount benefits. Detailed regional discount information and issuance methods can be found on the Korea Tourism website and mobile app.

Kim Jeong-hoon, Director of Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "The Tourist Resident Card holds great significance in increasing the tourism population and revitalizing the local economy in population-declining areas. The Ministry will continue to expand participating regions and services, increase incentives for excellent businesses, and establish a policy foundation to strengthen attractive benefits so that the Tourist Resident Card can firmly establish itself as an essential item for domestic travel."

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