Jeonnam Province Re-selected as the Only Region Nationwide for the 'Tourism Dure Regional Cooperation Project'

Jeonnam Province announced on the 11th that it has been reselected in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ‘2024 Tourism Dure Regional Cooperation Project’ competition, securing an additional 500 million KRW in national funding over two years.

Since being selected in the 2019 Tourism Dure Regional Cooperation Project competition, Jeonnam Province and the Jeonnam Tourism Foundation have enthusiastically promoted the project, which was originally scheduled to end after a maximum of five years of support. However, they achieved the remarkable feat of being the only region nationwide to be reselected, securing an additional two years of support.

The Tourism Dure Regional Cooperation Project is a grassroots tourism industry foundation initiative that supports local residents in forming communities to start businesses and sustain them by linking regional resources and stories with Jeonnam’s specialized experience programs and items.

So far, Jeonnam Province and the Jeonnam Tourism Foundation have been recognized for leading the Tourism Dure project by conducting various planning projects linked to overseas market development, Jeonnam’s mega events, and specialized resources to develop resident-led specialized local products.

In particular, last year, they launched a Jeonnam local gourmet travel product for Japanese tourists by linking Namdo traditional houses with Tourism Dure resident businesses, attracting 136 overseas tourists. Additionally, they gained attention as a nationwide best practice through diversified growth support such as a market development project linked to Jeonnam’s mega events and festivals, and the hosting of a super-regional flea market involving 52 Tourism Dure resident businesses from the Gyeongsang and Honam regions.

Moreover, over the five-year project period, they provided tourism jobs to a total of 656 residents and discovered and nurtured 83 resident businesses, achieving a cumulative sales amount of 10.6 billion KRW.

Through the ‘Tourism Dure Academy’ education program, they also trained 360 tourism professionals who will lead the revitalization of local tourism in Jeonnam, supporting their activities to establish a genuine grassroots resident tourism industry foundation.

Jeonnam Province plans to promote the project with the goal of making the Tourism Dure project a role model for solving population decline issues through regional tourism revitalization, as it is a youth-resident symbiotic collaboration project where local residents create tourism products and young people add trendy sensibilities on-site to promote and assist in sales.

To this end, they will strengthen close communication with local residents and provide customized support to develop differentiated tourism products, focusing on discovering and operating regional cultural experience programs to create additional specialized products unique to Jeonnam.

Furthermore, through the Tourism Dure Academy, a cradle for nurturing tourism talent, they will establish a process that connects the discovery, training, support, and employment or entrepreneurship of young planners, contributing to the expansion of youth settlement in the region.

Kim Hana, CEO of Balhyodamda Co., Ltd. in Gangjin, who participated in the Jeonnam Tourism Dure Regional Cooperation Project, stated, “Although the existing five-year national funding project ended, thanks to the proactive efforts of Jeonnam Province and the Jeonnam Tourism Foundation, we were able to receive an additional two years of support, which became an opportunity for the Tourism Dure project to be stably established.”

Joo Soon-seon, Director of the Tourism and Sports Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “Through the Tourism Dure creation project, we will nurture resident-led tourism businesses, develop tourism content suited to regional characteristics, and actively support the grassroots tourism industry to take root among residents and revitalize the regional tourism industry.”