Culture Ministry to Support 45 Community Businesses Through Tourism Dure Project

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on July 31 that, together with the Korea Tourism Organization, it has selected 45 local community businesses in 21 regions as recipients of support under the 2025 Tourism Dure Project.

The Tourism Dure Project is a policy initiative that supports local residents in independently establishing and operating tourism businesses with unique regional characteristics in fields such as experiences, food and beverages, souvenirs, travel, and accommodation. The project began in 2013 and, as of July 2025, is fostering 193 community businesses in 50 regions.

This year, applications for the Tourism Dure Project were accepted from April 21 to May 22, with 121 community businesses applying. The Ministry conducted a document review (June 10?12), online training and on-site inspections (June 23?July 11), and a presentation evaluation (July 22?25), ultimately selecting 45 businesses for support.

Chungnam Geumsan Youth Resident Enterprise '132 Jejakso'
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

Among the selected community businesses, the largest share?22 businesses (49%)?are in the 'experience' sector. This is followed by 10 in food and beverages (22%), 8 in souvenirs (18%), 3 in travel (7%), and 2 in accommodation (4%). By region, 7 are in the Seoul metropolitan area, 7 in Gangwon, 6 in Chungcheong, 7 in Honam, and 18 in Yeongnam.

Nine of the selected businesses are Youth Dure (where at least two-thirds of members are under 39 years old), and 28 businesses (62% of the total) are based in 12 population-declining areas, including Taebaek-si, Jeongeup-si, and Hamyang-gun.

The Ministry will provide the selected community businesses with tailored support for up to five years, within a limit of 110 million won, including education, field trips, consulting (startup management, product and menu development, design, promotion and marketing), pilot projects, and legal and tax assistance, according to each stage of development. In addition, regional Tourism Dure PDs (local activity experts) will offer close support to ensure that the community businesses can systematically and effectively plan and achieve startup and growth at each stage.

A policy official from the Ministry stated, "We will actively support the newly selected community businesses this year so that they can grow into brands representing their regions through the Tourism Dure Project."