Gov't to distribute discount coupons for cultural activities

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will inject 90.4 billion won ($76.3 million) to distribute discount coupons to help revitalize the ailing cultural industries. [YONHAP]

In efforts to help revitalize the ailing cultural industries in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic while allowing the public to overcome the so-called corona blues, or corona-related loneliness, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that it will distribute discount coupons to those wishing to engage in cultural activities from Friday.

The cultural activities people can enjoy at a lower price are divided into six categories: performance, movie, exhibition, sports, travel and accommodation. A total of 90.4 billion won ($76.3 million) has been set aside for the plan.

In order to prohibit people from taking advantage of the discount coupons by using them more than once, the ministry said they put the booking process online where users must go through a log-in process. For exhibitions and movies, which have relatively lower ticket prices and the age group of audiences is higher, the ministry said it’ll allow discounts for on-site ticket purchases as well.

Starting Friday, a total of 1.76 million people can avail of a 6,000 won discount when purchasing movie tickets for films screening at not only large multiplexes but also small independent film houses across the country. On the same day, 1 million discount coupons will be distributed for those who make bookings at some of the selected local accommodations for September and October. Discount rates differ depending on the price of the accommodation. Bookings can be made at all the local operating sites on a first-come, first-served basis.

Discount coupons for performances can be received via eight different ticketing portal sites like Interpark and Yes24 from Aug. 24. A total of 1.8 million people can receive up to an 8,000 won discount when purchasing tickets for any performances, excluding pop music concerts. In order to attract more people to performances of relatively less popular genres like opera, ballet, traditional performances and plays, the ministry decided to chip in a little more for those tickets than other popular genres like musicals.

Those who wish to avail of government-led discount tickets for exhibitions at museums should log on to the government-run ticketing site Culture N Ticket (www.culture.go.kr/ticket). Only the first 1.9 million people can receive a discount of 40 percent on their ticket prices. As for exhibits at art galleries, people can use five different ticketing sites from Aug. 21 and the first 1.6 million people can receive a 3,000 won discount coupon.

As for sports facilities, those who pay more than 80,000 won from Aug. 24 using local banks’ credit card can receive 30,000-won in cash back. Only the first 400,000 people can benefit from this plan.

“As people travel more and use cultural facilities, we’ll strictly keep an eye on each sector to make sure they sanitize the venues properly so that the public can feel safe and be encouraged to enjoy cultural activities,” said Chun Byong-keuk, Deputy Minister for Culture and Arts Policy.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [sharon@joongang.co.kr]