Culture, Sports, and Tourism COVID-19 Damage Scale 115.7 Trillion Won

The Most Severely Affected Sector Is Sports... Tourism Also Significantly Impacted
Assemblyman Yujeongju: "Many Damage Support Items Missing from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Budget Proposal"

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The estimated damage caused by COVID-19 in the fields of culture and arts, content, tourism, and sports amounts to 115.7 trillion won.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit data disclosed on the 29th by Yoo Jeong-ju, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (Democratic Party), the sector most severely affected was sports. The damage reached 57 trillion won, with 27.8 trillion won in 2020 and 29.2 trillion won last year. Last year's sports industry sales were 51.5 trillion won, which is 36.2% less than 80.7 trillion won in 2019.

The tourism industry's damage scale (53.2 trillion won) was also significant. In particular, spending by domestic and foreign tourists and related industries decreased by 28.9%, from 94.4 trillion won in 2019 to 67.1 trillion won the following year. In 2021, it remained at 73.2 trillion won. The most affected sub-sector was the travel industry. Last year's sales were 200 billion won, a 92% reduction compared to 2.5 trillion won in 2019.

In the content sector, including films and popular music performances, damage of 3.8 trillion won was recorded. The most severely affected sub-sector was film. According to the Integrated Computerized Ticketing System for movie theaters, sales dropped 73% from 1.9 trillion won in 2019 to 500 billion won the following year. Last year, sales were 580 billion won, showing no clear signs of recovery. The situation for popular music performances was similar. According to the Integrated Computerized Ticketing System for performing arts, sales were 353.3 billion won in 2019, but only 53.3 billion won and 84.8 billion won in the following two years, respectively.

The arts sector also suffered damage amounting to 1.6 trillion won. From 2020 to May of this year, canceled performances and exhibitions totaled 40,822 cases. Over the past two years, employment damage for freelance artists and arts business workers was estimated at 500 billion won and 200 billion won, respectively.

Overall, the scale of damage is gradually decreasing. However, due to the significant aftereffects compared to government support, it is expected to take time for a full recovery. Representative Yoo emphasized, "Because the COVID-19 situation has eased, many related damage support projects were removed from next year's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism budget proposal," adding, "To return to the pre-COVID-19 state, the scale of support must not be reduced."