Diversifying Nationalities, Digital Transformation... Hotels Also Offering Customized Services

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hosts 'Hotel Tourism Service Innovation Forum'
Diagnosing Environmental Changes and Discussing Ways to Enhance Competitiveness

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Hotel Association will hold the "Hotel Tourism Service Innovation Forum" on the 28th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Members' Meeting Room in Seoul. This is the first discussion platform for the hotel industry since COVID-19. The forum will diagnose environmental changes surrounding hotels and discuss ways to enhance service competitiveness. About 150 participants from the industry, academia, and travel content creators, including Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will attend.

Foreign visitors are enjoying sightseeing and shopping on the 3rd in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, where the spring welcome event for 'Seoul Welcome Week 2024' was held. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Recently, the environment surrounding hotels has changed rapidly. As the nationalities of inbound tourists have diversified, the types of travel and demands for hotel services have also become more varied. The use of digital transformation technologies such as unmanned kiosks and service robots has increased. The pilot allowance of the Employment Permit System for Foreign Workers (E-9) has also expanded, increasing demands for change and innovation in tourist hotels.

The forum will diagnose these trends and forecast the future. In Part 1, travel writer Kim Da-young will present on the theme "I Travel Hotels," discussing preferred hotel trends during travel and unique overseas hotel cases. Representatives from hotels such as Hotel HDC, Holiday Inn Express Seoul Hongdae, and SK Networks Walkerhill Hotel will share cases of self-driven efforts including changes in hotel personnel management systems and strategies to improve service quality.

In Part 2, Cho Dong-wook, team leader at the Korea Productivity Center, will present on "International Trends in Hotel Service Levels and Ways to Strengthen Service Competitiveness." Industry, government, and academic stakeholders will also hold a discussion on "Ways to Enhance Hotel Service Competitiveness." Participants include Professor Han Jin-soo of Kyung Hee University, Kang Dong-jin, Director of Tourism Industry Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kim Hyun-joo, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, and Lee Hyun-joo, Director of the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

Vice Minister Jang said, "I hope this forum will identify the environmental changes hotels are facing and explore multifaceted customized service innovation measures."