Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Announces Contest for Safe and Convenient 'Yeollin Tourist Sites'

One of the excellent cases of open tourist sites, 'Yongin Korean Folk Village'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 18th that it will hold a contest for the ‘2022 Open Tourist Sites’ from June 26 to July 30, targeting the Korea Tourism Organization and metropolitan and local governments.

The ‘Open Tourist Site Development Project’ aims to eliminate mobility inconveniences within tourist sites for vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly, families with infants and young children, and pregnant women. It also focuses on developing experiential tourism content for each tourist site, providing barrier-free tourism information online and offline, and offering education to improve awareness of barrier-free tourism, thereby making tourism activities easy and convenient for all citizens.

Since 2015, 49 open tourist sites have been completed up to this year. Currently, 43 sites are undergoing renovation and repair work. This year’s 2022 Open Tourist Site contest schedule has been advanced to allow sufficient time for renovation and for local governments to secure local funds, ensuring smooth project implementation within the period.

In particular, in this contest, experts will directly inspect facilities, convenience facilities, main routes, slopes, and more at each tourist site on-site, and will also focus on evaluating the inherent attractiveness of the tourist sites.

Selected tourist sites will receive support including ▲ expert customized on-site consultations ▲ renovation and repair of infrastructure such as major tourist facilities, slopes, walkways, and convenience facilities ▲ development of experiential tourism content ▲ shared travel programs for vulnerable groups ▲ barrier-free awareness improvement education for tourism workers and public officials.

Detailed contest information and application forms can be found on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism website’s ‘Notice’ board and the Korea Tourism Organization website’s ‘Open Tourist Site Information Exchange’ section.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "Starting this year, we plan to build an integrated barrier-free tourism information website that everyone can easily and conveniently access, widely promoting barrier-free tourism information from open tourist sites and local governments." He added, "We ask for the active interest and participation of local governments in creating an inclusive tourism environment so that all citizens, including vulnerable groups, can enjoy the right to tourism."