Chonnam National University Department of Cultural Tourism Management Wins Grand Prize at Tourism AI Problem-Solving Contest

by Min Chanki

Published 26 Sep.2025 09:15(KST)

Students from the Department of Cultural Tourism Management at Chonnam National University won the Grand Prize at the "2025 Tourism AI Problem-Solving Idea Contest" hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization. (From left) Si-Hyung Noh, Ji-Hyun Park, Min-Woo Song. Provided by Chonnam National University

Chonnam National University announced on the 26th that students from the Department of Cultural Tourism Management won the Grand Prize (President's Award of the Korea Tourism Organization) at the "2025 Tourism AI Problem-Solving Idea Contest" hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization.

The idea "Zero Waste Festival Together" (abbreviated as "Jepetu") submitted by the student team "NOVATOURS" from the Department of Cultural Tourism Management at Chonnam National University was selected as the final winner, receiving high marks for its innovation and feasibility.

The winning team consists of students Minwoo Song, Sihyung Noh, and Jihyun Park from the Department of Cultural Tourism Management. They proposed solutions to address the recurring issues of waste disposal and environmental pollution at festivals and large-scale events using advanced technology.

The core of their idea is an integrated solution that combines: ▲AI-powered automatic waste-sorting robots ▲AI-powered automatic waste-sorting machines ▲autonomous trash bins ▲volume-detection sensors utilizing load cells (linked with AI) ▲and a visitor-participation photo booth called "Ecofilm."

Through this, the process of waste disposal and collection is automated, and the system is designed to allow visitors to participate in environmental campaigns in a fun way. Beyond simple waste management, the solution also presents the potential to expand into a "smart tourism service" that analyzes and guides real-time congestion at festival sites and optimizes operational efficiency based on data.

The team also presented quantitative expectations, including more than doubling the recycling rate compared to existing methods, reducing collection personnel and costs by over 20%, and making a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions.

The panel of judges praised the idea as "original and innovative in that it uses AI technology to solve waste problems while simultaneously transforming the tourist experience into new content," and added, "It is an idea that can also contribute to strengthening the ESG competitiveness of the tourism industry."

The award-winning students stated, "It was meaningful to apply the specialized knowledge we learned at Chonnam National University to solve real-world problems," and added, "We hope to continue pursuing sustainable innovation in the smart tourism sector in the future."