Kim Daehyun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, visited Myeongdong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 2nd to inspect the readiness for accommodating foreign tourists and to listen to on-site opinions.
With the surge in demand for travel to Korea due to the K-Content boom and the implementation of visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists, Vice Minister Kim inspected on-site situations that could cause inconvenience to tourists, such as price gouging and anti-China protests, and sought countermeasures.
Kim Daehyun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, visited Myeongdong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 2nd to inspect the readiness for accommodating foreign tourists and to listen to on-site opinions. Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Vice Minister Kim, together with officials from the Jung-gu District Office, the Myeongdong Tourism Special Zone Council, and the Myeongdong Merchants Association, visited businesses frequently visited by foreign tourists to focus on checking the implementation of price labeling systems to prevent price gouging, quality control services, and other factors that could cause inconvenience during tourism activities. He also inspected the multilingual information system, shopping and payment convenience, and other aspects of the tourism infrastructure. He listened to cases of merchants suffering losses due to recent anti-China protests that have increased inconvenience for foreign tourists and discussed practical countermeasures. In addition, he urged the industry to make self-regulatory efforts to resolve the issue of price gouging. He also visited Lotte Duty Free to assess visitor trends following the implementation of visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists and to hear about difficulties faced by the duty-free industry.
Vice Minister Kim stated, "Myeongdong is a symbolic place for tourism in Korea, so I hope that the Myeongdong Special Zone Council and the Merchants Association will take the lead in welcoming foreign tourists and improving inconveniences such as price gouging." He added, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also focus its policy capabilities on creating a safe and enjoyable tourism environment so that Korea can become a global tourism powerhouse, with the goal of attracting 30 million international tourists."
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, plans to form a joint inspection team to intensively check for unfair practices such as the posting of accommodation price lists, in order to eradicate price gouging ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and the autumn foliage season.
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