[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On the 14th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced plans to improve the environment for welcoming tourists by disinfecting tourist sites, preventing safety accidents, stabilizing prices, and managing accommodation and food services in collaboration with related ministries, 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, the Korea Tourism Association, the Hotel Association, and the Korea Tourism Organization, so that citizens can enjoy safe and pleasant domestic travel during the summer peak season.
◆ Strengthening COVID-19 disinfection inspections related to summer water play facilities= The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, among other related ministries, will strengthen disinfection inspections of water play amusement facilities and swimming pools in hotels, condos, and pensions in preparation for summer.
Currently, local governments are jointly inspecting 209 water play amusement facilities to ensure compliance with ▲ entry log creation ▲ daily visitor limits ▲ temporary suspension of rides where social distancing is difficult ▲ provision of waterproof masks or waterproof mask storage pouches (Caribbean Bay, Blue One Resort), among other measures.
For swimming pools in tourist accommodations (hotels, condos) and tourist pensions, the government and local governments are jointly investigating whether facilities in selected major vacation areas are following detailed social distancing guidelines. For beaches, services such as congestion traffic lights, reservation systems, and social distancing will continue to be inspected on-site to ensure effectiveness.
◆ Joint inspections by related agencies and operation of the Tourist Complaints Center= The government and local governments will comprehensively focus on inspecting whether summer peak season tourist site prices are posted and complied with, illegal facility installations, and illegal accommodation operations. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Health and Welfare, local governments, and tourism police will jointly crack down on illegal accommodations until August 14 and compile results to use in future measures.
To crack down on unfair fee collection such as beach seat fees, an 'Unfair Fee Reporting Center' has been established and operated. On-site inspections will be conducted at beaches where usage fees for major items such as parking lots and life jackets have risen excessively compared to the previous year, to crack down on price stabilization violations such as unfair consignment and unfair commercial acts.
Local governments operate special measures for price management and illegal facility crackdowns during the summer peak season, inspecting unregistered accommodations, illegal facilities, and compliance with price labeling systems. In particular, to stabilize prices at tourist sites, local governments post price information and 'Good Price Businesses' for major tourist sites on their websites and inform tourists.
If tourists experience illegal acts or inconveniences at tourist sites or need tourist guidance or interpretation, they can request assistance or report inconveniences 24 hours a day at the '1330 Tourist Complaints Center' operated by the Korea Tourism Organization.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo said, "As the regional spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is prolonged, thorough disinfection and improvement of the tourism environment for safe travel are needed more than ever," and added, "We ask for active interest and participation from the private sector as well."
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