'Any Old Businesses in Gyeonggi?'…Gyeonggi Tourism Organization Selects 31 Locations This Year

Exterior view of Donggwang Theater in Dongducheon, selected as a Gyeonggi old store last year

Gyeonggi Province is set to discover and support long-established businesses within the region.

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization announced on the 7th that it will promote the "2024 Gyeonggi Long-Established Business Selection and Revitalization Support Project" to discover "Gyeonggi-style long-established businesses" that embody the unique sentiments and stories of Gyeonggi Province, and systematically nurture them as representative content for lifestyle tourism.

Eligibility criteria include businesses that meet at least one of the following: ▲reflect the local sentiment representative of their neighborhood ▲are rare and little-known in terms of technical aspects or industry but have preservation value ▲offer experiences for a wide audience to enjoy cultural activities. Applications are open until the 31st of this month.

However, businesses that have received administrative sanctions such as suspension of operations due to violations of the Food Sanitation Act within the past year, single manufacturing businesses, large corporations, subsidiaries, franchise stores, and agencies are not eligible to apply.

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization will select a final 31 businesses by the end of July through document screening in June and expert on-site evaluations in July.

The organization will provide selected long-established businesses with support including ▲signboards and certificates ▲storytelling card news, webzines, and storybook production ▲customized one-on-one consulting for content development, market expansion, and smart transformation ▲development of newtro content and themed course creation.

Jo Wonyong, President of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, stated, "While 2023 was the inaugural year focusing on integrated branding and promotion of Gyeonggi long-established businesses, this year we plan to advance the project to provide practical support to these businesses and their local areas through public promotion, pilot operation of tourism courses linked to long-established businesses, and on-site consulting."

Meanwhile, last year the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization selected 25 locations within the province as Gyeonggi long-established businesses.