Dressing Hanok in Classics... Rihan Culture Selected as 1 Billion 'First Penguin'

Cultural arts company Rihan Culture announced on the 30th that it has been selected as a ‘First Penguin’ company under the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund’s innovative startup support program.

Classic traditional house Bukchon view.
[Photo by Rihan Culture]

원본보기 아이콘

With this selection, Rihan Culture has secured a guarantee limit of up to 1 billion KRW. This is interpreted as a result of high recognition of its business excellence as a cultural arts tourism company.

The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund provides customized financial and non-financial services to startups with high growth potential to help them grow into global unicorn companies. It focuses on companies with innovative and creative ideas to promote the growth of small and medium enterprises and contribute to the revitalization of the overall economy.

Rihan Culture started as a classical music concert planner and has now transformed into a cultural arts tourism company. It operates the premium Hanok accommodation Classic Gotaek and offers various cultural experiences utilizing the traditional house.

The ‘Gotaek Concert’ experience product, which combines K-content traditional houses and classical music, has attracted attention, with all 18 concerts held over the past two years in Seoul’s Seochon and Bukchon neighborhoods as well as Daegu’s Otgol Village selling out. Recognizing these achievements, Rihan Culture received the President’s Award, the ‘Early Tourism Venture Excellence Award,’ at the Korea Tourism Organization’s ‘Tourism Venture Day’ event on the 23rd.

The 'Gotaek Concert,' which combines traditional Korean houses and classical music as K-content, has gained attention, with all 18 performances held over the past two years sold out. Recognizing this achievement, Rihan Culture received the 'Early Tourism Venture Excellence Award,' the President's Award of the Korea Tourism Organization, at the Korea Tourism Organization's 'Tourism Venture Day' event on the 23rd.
[Photo by Rihan Culture]

원본보기 아이콘

Rihan Culture’s system, highly evaluated for its space branding capabilities centered on traditional houses, digitalization of manuals, and development of a reservation portal platform easily accessible to foreigners, was regarded as an innovative approach that led to the activation of inbound tourism. Based on the support from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, the company plans to open Classic Gotaek branches 4 and 5 and a permanent Hanok performance hall by 2025.

Choi Yuri, CEO of Rihan Culture, said, “We are very pleased to have our unique ideas and business model excellence recognized through a rigorous selection process,” adding, “With the support of the First Penguin program, we will accelerate our vision of ‘inbound luxury tourism combined with the arts’ and establish ourselves as a pioneer in the domestic content tourism market.”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.