Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Selects 119 Winning Entries for Tourism Venture Business Contest

The glocal brand "Haenyeo's Kitchen" created by Jeju haenyeo and young artists
Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] A total of 119 projects with outstanding creativity and business potential were finally selected on the 1st through the '11th Tourism Venture Business Contest' hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Tourism Organization.

This year's contest received 960 project applications across four categories: Pre-Tourism Venture (pre-startups), Early Tourism Venture (early startups - less than 3 years since establishment), Growth Tourism Venture (more than 3 years since establishment), and Rechallenge Tourism Venture (re-startups by business owners with prior closure experience). Among them, 25 Pre-Tourism Venture projects, 55 Early Tourism Venture projects, 19 Growth Tourism Venture projects, and 20 Rechallenge Tourism Venture projects were finally selected.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism provides up to 90 million KRW in commercialization support funds, startup education, customized consulting, and tourism product and service development support for projects in the Pre-Tourism Venture, Early Tourism Venture, and Rechallenge Tourism Venture categories. For Growth Tourism Venture projects, it offers up to 90 million KRW in promotional marketing support funds, investment attraction education, and awards a certificate in the name of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Since its inception in 2011, the Tourism Venture Business Contest has been held annually to nurture prospective entrepreneurs and startups in the tourism sector with innovative business ideas. So far, it has discovered over 700 innovative tourism companies, creating more than 2,100 new tourism contents and jobs.