8 Out of 10 Foreign Tourists Visit Seoul... Ministry to Develop Two Regional Global Tourism Districts

Ministry Selects Two Global Tourism Districts

Support for Transportation, Payment Services, and Tourism Content

Local Governments Invited to Apply by July 6, 3 Billion Won per District in National Funding

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will select and intensively nurture two “Global Tourism Districts” among regional tourism districts to disperse foreign tourists currently concentrated in Seoul to other regions.

On the 1st, foreign tourists wearing Hanbok are taking commemorative photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

On May 18, the Ministry announced that it would be accepting applications from local governments to participate in the “Global Tourism District Development Project” from May 18 to July 6. This project aims to foster tourism districts equipped with unique regional tourism content and infrastructure as regional hubs that attract foreign tourists.

The application is open to tourism districts nationwide, except for the Seoul metropolitan area and Jeju Island. Tourism districts in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, as well as Jeju, which has its own tourism fund support system, are excluded. Only metropolitan local governments that have designated tourism districts are eligible to apply, and each can submit one tourism district with high potential.

The project is divided into two categories: “future convergence type” and “regional self-sustaining type.” The future convergence type targets tourism districts that have received more than 200,000 foreign tourists in the past year and combine smart technology with cultural infrastructure. The regional self-sustaining type targets tourism districts that have attracted more than 100,000 foreign tourists and possess unique historical, cultural, or scenic resources.

Each of the two tourism districts selected as “Global Tourism Districts” will receive 3 billion won in national funding over two years from 2026 to 2027. The annual support amount is 1.5 billion won per district, with a central government subsidy rate of 50%.

The support covers improvements to convenience for foreign tourists, the development of regional tourism content, and building global brands. This includes enhancing transportation connectivity between transport hubs and tourist attractions, providing multilingual guidance, improving payment services for foreigners, developing experiential and stay-type tourism products, and promoting and marketing regionally specialized tourism products. Public-private cooperation projects involving regional tourism organizations, local merchants, youth enterprises, and local universities will also be supported.

The Ministry seeks to ease the concentration of inbound tourism in Seoul through this project. According to the Ministry, a 2025 survey on foreign tourists to Korea showed that 81.7% of inbound visitors traveled to Seoul.

Kang Jeongwon, policy chief for tourism at the Ministry, stated, “Through this project, we will develop differentiated tourism content and brands that capture the unique charm of each region and improve convenience services for foreign tourists, thereby creating a successful model of regional tourism with global competitiveness.”

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