Culture Ministry to invest 1.3 trillion won in tourism this year

Korea Dulle-gil [JOONGANG PHOTOS]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that it will direct 1.3115 trillion won ($1.004 billion) into boosting Korea's tourism in 2024.

The new budget is 81.4 billion won or 6.6 percent higher than that of last year. With it, the ministry plans to attract 20 million foreign visitors.
Its biggest project continues to be the 2023-2024 Visit Korea Year campaign which aims to leverage K-culture to attract visitors to the country through events, travel packages and promotional campaigns. Upcoming projects include the Korea Grand Sale running through February, the Korea Beauty Festival in June and a large K-culture festival in September. The ministry also plans to hold K-tourism roadshows in 25 different cities.

A total of 17.8 billion won has been allocated to Visit Korea Year campaign this year.

The ministry will debut tourism offices in 10 countries as well, including Saudi Arabia and Brazil, and will set up a K-culture and tourism zone at Incheon International Airport.

It allocated 11 billion won to cultural tourism and K-drama-related events, 3.9 billion won to K-sport-related events and 12.5 billion won to K-beauty-related ventures.

The ministry will also work to position the Korea Dulle-gil, a 4,500-kilometer trail, as a global tourist spot. The path, which was completed last year, wraps around Korea's seaside.

The budget also reserves 30.4 billion won for MICE tourism to “enhance Korea's MICE industry and support hosting international events.” MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]