The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yu In-chon) and the Korea Tourism Organization (Acting President Seo Young-chung) jointly announced the final selection of 140 promising tourism ventures through the ‘16th Tourism Venture Business Competition.’ This initiative aims to spotlight and foster innovative ideas that will shape the future landscape of the tourism industry.

Since its inception in 2011, the ‘Tourism Venture Business Competition’ has played a pivotal role in discovering and nurturing creative startups within the tourism sector. To date, it has fostered over 1,700 outstanding tourism ventures, significantly contributing to the innovative growth of South Korea’s tourism industry. This year’s competition witnessed a remarkable level of interest, with a total of 1,112 business ideas submitted across three categories: Preliminary Tourism Ventures (prospective founders), Early-Stage Tourism Ventures (within 3 years of establishment), and Growth-Stage Tourism Ventures (3 to 7 years of establishment). The high competition rate underscores the burgeoning enthusiasm for tourism venture businesses. Following a rigorous evaluation process involving document screening, presentation assessments, and on-site inspections, 30 preliminary, 70 early-stage, and 40 growth-stage ventures with groundbreaking business models were ultimately selected.

A notable trend in this year’s selection is the strong presence of ventures leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance business efficiency and provide personalized travel services. Representative examples include ‘The Hyusik,’ which offers SaaS-based automated operation technology for accommodation businesses, and ‘Vendit,’ which has developed an AI-powered automated system for optimizing room sales in the accommodation sector. These companies have been recognized for their proactive adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) to improve the operational efficiency of tourism businesses and propose novel business models.

Furthermore, innovative ideas in the realm of hyper-personalized travel services, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to cater to individual preferences and needs, stood out. ‘ICU Company,’ providing AI-based customized support services for Muslim tourists visiting Korea; ‘Woozoo Pet,’ an AI-driven platform connecting pet owners with pet care services for pet-friendly travel; and ‘Ohka,’ offering travel destination photography services using AI-powered autonomous drones, were among the selected ventures. These are expected to cater to increasingly diverse and personalized travel demands.

The advancement of tourism businesses integrating local characteristics with experiential tourism and medical tourism is also noteworthy. ‘Rock N Run,’ operating the ‘Jangsu Trail Race,’ an experiential running tourism program utilizing the unique features of Jangsu County; ‘POC,’ promoting local experience-based sports tourism businesses; ‘R&One,’ operating ‘Fair Play,’ a travel platform for outdoor activities such as hiking and trekking; and ‘Weekend TORY,’ providing weekend leisure recommendation services for customized experiential tourism, are all anticipated to contribute to the revitalization of regional tourism. Additionally, the selection of medical tourism-related businesses such as ‘Welltrip Korea,’ offering egg freezing guidance services for foreign women, and ‘Cloud Hospital,’ a global medical tourism platform for attracting and managing international patients, is expected to bolster the competitiveness of South Korea’s medical tourism industry.

The 140 selected tourism ventures will receive comprehensive growth support, including up to KRW 100 million in business development grants, customized management consulting, educational programs, investment attraction opportunities, and industry networking. In particular, the opportunity to participate in open innovation programs with major tourism companies like Yanolja, Expedia, and Trip.com is expected to provide a crucial stepping stone for these ventures to strengthen their market competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth. Growth-stage tourism ventures will also be awarded a certificate of confirmation from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, officially recognizing their innovation and growth potential.

A representative from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, “We anticipate that these innovative tourism ventures selected through this competition will become the core driving force for the qualitative growth and diversification of the Korean tourism industry. We will continue to provide active support to ensure that these ventures can realize their creative ideas and grow into leading companies with global competitiveness.”

The final results of the ‘16th Tourism Venture Business Competition’ can be found in detail on the Korea Tourism Organization’s Tourism Venture Nurturing website (touraz.kr) starting from Tuesday, April 22nd. The innovative endeavors of these tourism ventures, poised to illuminate the future of the tourism industry, are highly anticipated.