Culture Ministry Expands Loan Support for Tourism Industry to 437.5 Billion Won

1 Trillion Won in Supplementary Budget to Be Provided in the First Half to Counter High Oil Price Impact

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will expand the scale of loans from the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund to support the tourism industry, which has been affected by high oil prices.

Travelers are moving within the duty-free zone at Incheon International Airport. Photo by Yonhap News

The ministry announced that it will expand the loan support program for the tourism fund, which has been allocated in the supplementary budget, starting from May 6. The original scale of loan support scheduled for the first half of this year was 337.5 billion won, but with an additional 100 billion won from the supplementary budget, the total has increased to 437.5 billion won.

This measure is being implemented due to concerns about a contraction in the tourism market and industry losses resulting from high oil prices caused by the recent war in the Middle East. The ministry has decided to provide 100 billion won of the 200 billion won loan support budget allocated through the supplementary budget in the first half of the year to help stabilize business operations and support the industry in overcoming the crisis.

Separate support will also be provided for tourism businesses in the early stages of establishment. The ministry has newly established a 30 billion won “Tourism Business Startup Loan” program to help tourism startups secure funding. The eligible recipients are tourism businesses that are small and medium-sized enterprises established less than seven years ago. The loan limits are 3 billion won for new construction, 1 billion won for renovation, and 300 million won for operating funds.

The scale of loan support will also be expanded in the second half of the year. Out of the 200 billion won supplementary budget, a total of 130 billion won will be provided in the first half, and in the second half, the original 300 billion won will be supplemented by the remaining 70 billion won from the supplementary budget, bringing the total loan support for the second half to 370 billion won.

An official from the ministry said, “We believe this support will help alleviate the management burden on the tourism industry, contribute to early-stage startups establishing themselves in the market, and improve the overall tourism industry ecosystem.”

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