Preventing Low-Cost Tourism and Forced Shopping... Tourism Promotion Act Amendment Passes National Assembly

New Prohibited Acts for Designated Travel Agencies Established
Violations May Result in Suspension or Revocation of Designation

Legal grounds have been established to prevent low-cost tours and forced shopping in South Korea's inbound group tourism market.

Foreign tourists are crowding Gamcheon Village in Saha District, Busan. Yonhap News Agency

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on May 8 that an amendment to the Tourism Promotion Act, which stipulates prohibited practices and administrative sanctions for designated travel agencies, passed the National Assembly's plenary session on May 7.

The designated travel agency system is a mechanism by which travel agencies that meet certain requirements are designated and managed to attract group tourists from countries with which South Korea has signed memorandums of understanding or agreements with foreign governments.

This amendment explicitly defines acts that undermine order in the inbound group tourism market as prohibited practices for designated travel agencies. These include significantly lowering the cost of attracting group tourists, receiving commissions above a certain percentage from facilities or shops used by tourists, forcing group tourists to make purchases, or engaging in insulting or abusive language toward them.

It is also prohibited for designated travel agencies to use commissions received from tourist facilities or shops to cover expenses that should be paid to tourism workers they employ. If a prohibited practice is committed, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism may order a suspension of work for up to six months or cancel the agency's designation.

The amendment also establishes grounds for sanctions regarding unauthorized departures by tourists. If tourists recruited by a designated travel agency leave the group without authorization for reasons inconsistent with the purpose of the trip, the agency may face suspension of work or cancellation of designation, taking into account the number of unauthorized departures, the rate of such departures, reasons for leaving, and the number of incidents.

Government-wide cooperation grounds have also been established for the designation and management of designated travel agencies. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism may cooperate with the heads of relevant central administrative agencies for the designation of travel agencies and to address problematic situations.

The ministry plans to specify detailed standards for prohibited practices and administrative sanction criteria related to unauthorized departures and other violations in subordinate regulations. The amended law will take effect six months after its promulgation.

Minister Choi Hwi-Young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "We will use this amendment to the Tourism Promotion Act to establish order in the inbound group tourism market and foster a high-quality group tourism sector."

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