The Busan Tourism Organization (President Lee Jeong-sil, hereinafter referred to as the "Organization") announced on the 16th that it successfully concluded the "2026 Busan Tourism Organization Public Data and AI Utilization Idea Contest," which was promoted to discover creative Busan tourism services utilizing public data and artificial intelligence (AI), and selected the final 3 outstanding ideas.

Under the theme of "Creating a New Busan Travel with Public Data and AI," this contest was held for the general public from August 18 to September 7, focusing on the practical private-sector use of public data and the discovery of citizen-participatory tourism services by requiring participants to use at least one type of public data opened by the Organization.

As a result of the contest, a total of 68 ideas were submitted, with many proposals combining various AI technologies—such as generative AI, data analysis and prediction, and personalized recommendations—with tourism data. Diverse ideas spanning overall Busan tourism were also presented, including convenience for foreign tourists, tourist safety routes, alley tourism, local commercial districts, ESG, city tours, and MICE.

Through evaluations by external experts in tourism, public data, and AI fields, the Organization selected 5 entries in the 1st round of document screening and finalized 3 winning entries (1 Grand Prize, 1 Excellence Prize, 1 Encouragement Prize) following the 2nd presentation screening consisting of proposal presentations and Q&A sessions held on September 14.

The Grand Prize went to Kim O-min for "BUSAN SAFE-FLOW," a safe travel service that redesigns alternative travel routes and itineraries using public data and AI in the event of unexpected situations such as weather anomalies, congestion, or traffic controls.

The Excellence Prize went to Oh O-seok for "BUSAN LOCAL LOOP," a local knowledge circulation system that analyzes tourists' repetitive questions and gaps in on-site information using AI to uncover information voids and feed them back into improving public tourism information.

The Encouragement Prize went to Yoon O-hyun for "Danubi AI," a decision-making AI service that reflects the stay duration, travel methods, and tourism purposes of Taejongdae tourists to suggest customized travel courses that are actually feasible.

Final winners will receive the Organization President's Award along with prize money of 500,000 KRW for the Grand Prize, 300,000 KRW for the Excellence Prize, and 200,000 KRW for the Encouragement Prize, respectively.

The Organization explained that this contest holds significance as it established a virtuous cycle of data utilization extending from "public data opening -> public utilization -> AI integration -> tourism idea discovery -> policy and business feedback," going a step further from simply opening data.

In particular, the winning works and excellent proposals will be shared with relevant business departments to review the feasibility of linking them with existing tourism businesses and services, and ideas with high feasibility will be utilized for planning new projects and improving tourism services in the future. In addition, new data demands and improvement opinions identified during the contest process will be reflected in future tasks for opening new public data and improving quality.

Busan Tourism Organization President Lee Jeong-sil said, "Through this contest, we confirmed the possibility that when creative ideas and AI technology are added beyond simple public data opening, they can expand into actual tourism services and policies," adding, "We will continue to actively discover and connect data needed by citizens and tourists, and link excellent ideas with Busan tourism services and businesses so that data and AI can become the actual competitiveness of Busan tourism."

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]