Korea Tourism Organization Hosts '2024 Tourism Venture Day'
8 Companies Receive Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Awards
Diverse Innovative Achievements in Regional Revitalization, AI Utilization, and Robot Services
This year, 36 tourism venture companies that created new value in the tourism industry through innovative ideas and technologies were selected.
The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 24th that it held the '2024 Tourism Venture Day' event on the 23rd at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, selecting and awarding the most innovative tourism companies.
Since its inception in 2019, 'Tourism Venture Day' has reached its fourth edition this year, excluding 2020 and 2021 when it was suspended due to COVID-19. This award ceremony was held across seven categories: (preliminary, early-stage, growth) tourism venture contest, tourism global challenge program, tourism accelerating, tourism plus-tech, and tourism company innovation voucher. Eight top companies received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, and 28 companies were awarded the President’s Award from the Korea Tourism Organization.
2024 Excellent Tourism Venture Ministerial Award Winning Company. [Table = Korea Tourism Organization]
'Developon Co., Ltd.', which won the grand prize in the growth tourism venture new company category for 2024, was recognized for contributing to regional revitalization by rebranding local unique tourism resources. The company transformed the depressed old downtown of Changwon, Gyeongnam, into a hot spot under the brand 'Soridangil,' and was highly evaluated especially because it was led by private young entrepreneurs.
Group photo of the winners of the Tourism Venture Day_Best Award_Excellence Award (President's Award). [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]
'Gadget Korea', the grand prize winner in the tourism global challenge program category, provides reasonable roaming services through customized electronic SIM plans. In August, it became the first domestic startup to register as a full member of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), the world's largest mobile telecommunications industry association, and in September, it established a Singapore corporation with support from the program, officially advancing overseas.
'Iconic Movement', the grand prize winner in the tourism accelerating program category, is a company producing ICT-based immersive content. Despite being a third-year early startup, it attracted 1.9 billion KRW in investment this year and is also pursuing overseas market entry in Thailand, China, and other countries.
List of Venture Companies Awarded the President's Prize and Encouragement Prize by the Korea Tourism Organization. [Table = Korea Tourism Organization]
In the tourism plus-tech category, 'Nua', which supports digital transformation of travel agencies by combining technology and generative AI, received the grand prize. In the tourism company innovation voucher support project category, 'Zero Point Trail', which provides GPS-based hiking and trekking course guidance and completion certification services, won the grand prize. Notably, in the newly introduced service robot category this year, 'Nemo Camping Site Going to the Mountain', which solved delivery of firewood and other goods by robot, received a special award.
Kim Dong-il, head of the Tourism Industry Headquarters at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "This year, we focused on expanding demonstration project opportunities to verify business ideas of early tourism companies," adding, "We will continue to strengthen domestic and international partnerships and actively support the global expansion of excellent tourism venture companies through overseas tourism company support centers established in Singapore, Tokyo, and Bangkok."
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