The government seeks to have foreign visitors spend more and stay longer in the country. Shown are tourists on June 13 posing for photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Park Hye Ri

A cultural training visa for K-pop fans from abroad and a short-term transportation pass will seek to raise convenience for foreign visitors.

A meeting of economy-related ministers on the morning of June 17 at Government Complex-Sejong in Sejong announced these and other measures to stimulate tourism in the country. 

To minimize inconvenience when foreign sightseers enter the country, the scale of tour groups for the Electronic Travel Authorization, aka K-ETA and now at 50 people, will be raised. Optical character recognition will also be adopted for passport screening.

To get foreign visitors to stay longer, the pilot operation of the "K-culture training visa" will target those visiting Korea to receive K-pop training. Under consideration is a digital nomad visa according to region for "workcation," or work and vacation, to allow remote workers a longer stay to travel in the provinces while doing their jobs.

The number of direct flights between provincial airports with cities abroad will also rise. In the second half of the year, new routes linking Busan and Jakarta, Indonesia, and Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, and the Indonesian resort island of Bali will be launched. Flights between Daegu and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, will be added, and talks with countries with high demand for travel to Korea such as the Philippines will continue on creating and expanding transportation routes.

Foreign tourists can also expect higher travel convenience. Sixteen stations of the high-speed rail KTX will launch a service of delivering luggage to a traveler's hotel, and the "easy drop" service, which checks in personal luggage outside of airports before a passenger's departure, will be expanded. 

Welcoming gifts such as plug adapters and battery power packs for smart devices will go to visitors using a transit tour program at Incheon International Airport.

Domestic map apps frequently used by foreign visitors translate user reviews of major destinations written in Korean into English and Chinese. Foreign passengers on inbound flights to Korea can buy a mobile public transit pass exclusively for them using credit cards issued overseas. A short-term transportation card for foreign visitors will be also introduced in major cities nationwide.

Other measures include creating unique travel content and improving shopping convenience for travelers from overseas. The forthcoming interactive program "K-lifestyle" will have travelers experience daily life in the nation such as "chimaek" (chicken and beer) and instant photo booths. 

A new mobile service for custom clearance of duty-free goods will be expanded to seven provincial airports for easier tax refunds by foreign visitors when they depart.

To raise awareness of tourism in the country, a joint public-private monitoring team will be launched and the quality of tourist services such as lodging, transportation and food is scheduled for upgrades.

hrhr@korea.kr