Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In Chon (right) on Dec. 22 speaks at a conference on strategies to promote tourism in the nation's southern region at Tongyeong Concert Hall in Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

This year's tourism budget of 1.31 trillion won is up 6.6% from last year's.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Jan. 3 said this in announcing its 2024 tourism budget execution plan under its goal of attracting 20 million tourists from abroad.

The first step is to continue the Visit Korea Year 2023-24 campaign with funds of KRW 17.8 billion, up KRW 7.8 billion from last year. In conjunction with this initiative are events such as the Korea Grand Sale from January through February, Korea Beauty Festival in June and Hallyu (Korean Wave) Festival in September.

The K-Tourism Mega Roadshow will also be held in 25 major cities around the world.

New projects include the opening of tourism promotion branches in 10 countries including Saudi Arabia and Brazil, where demand for visits to Korea is rising, and creation of a K-tourism and Culture Zone at Incheon International Airport.

The aim is to promote global festivals enjoyable internationally, expanding their appeal beyond the nation's boundaries. Increased investment in Hallyu tourism will also leverage cultural content such as K-pop, K-dramas and sports tourism integrated with domestic sports.

The number of thematic tourism courses linked to historical, cultural and tourism resources near Cheong Wa Dae will also be doubled from 10 to 20.

The digital tourist ID card, which offers discounts to visitors exploring the provinces, is transitioning from a pilot project last year to a full-fledged initiative this year. Funds worth KRW 1.9 billion will go toward the "workacation" (digital nomad) visa to support those blending work and vacation and another KRW 4.8 billion to the project Night Tourism Specialized City to boost stay-over travel.

The ministry will also take the lead in enhancing the quality of tourism services including accommodation, transportation and food through joint inspection teams with public participation focusing on major tourist destinations.

"We've substantially raised the tourism sector budget to draw in 20 million foreign tourists this year and propel our tourism industry to its best performance in history," Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Yu In Chon said. "We will keep doing everything we can to help Korean tourism level up by continuing massive Visit Korea Year events and discovering competitive K-tourism content."

dusrud21@korea.kr