Park Seong-hyeok, the new president of the Korea Tourism Organization, held his inaugural press conference on the morning of the 2nd at the Korean Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, where he announced his ambitious plans for the future of Korean tourism. He emphasized his intention to significantly enhance the industry, setting 2026 as the ‘first year of execution’ to improve the structure of Korea’s tourism industry and achieve the goal of attracting 30 million foreign tourists by 2028.
During the press conference, Park highlighted his strategies to make tourism one of Korea’s three major export industries alongside automobiles and semiconductors. He introduced three key strategies for developing tourism as a new growth engine for the Korean economy: attraction, retention, and leap forward.
He also discussed plans to close the tourism gap with Japan, identifying the need for over 16% annual growth. Park emphasized the importance of expanding in North American and European markets and forging substantial partnerships with global hotel chains and major online travel agencies. Additionally, he plans to promote convergence products capitalizing on Korea’s strengths in medical wellness and beauty to attract high-spending tourists, and he aims to increase the hosting of medium to large international conferences.
A major new initiative is the ‘Local Love Vacation Program,’ which offers reimbursement for half of travel expenses to depopulated areas, encouraging longer stays in rural and island regions. There are also plans to enhance convenience for foreign visitors through a newly introduced ‘Tourism and Transportation Integrated Pass’ and collaborations to improve service quality throughout their visits.
To advance the industry’s digital transformation, a new ‘Tourism AI Innovation Division’ will be established, aiming to transition to an AI-based single platform by 2028, integrating scattered websites into ‘Visit Korea,’ and developing a multilingual chatbot ‘AI Travel Assistant’ for traveler convenience.
Park announced upcoming organizational reforms aimed at eliminating superficial activities and establishing a culture of data-driven decision-making. He envisions making 2026 a year of significant change, ensuring tourism’s elevation to one of Korea’s top export industries within the next three years, thereby making the Korea Tourism Organization an indispensable cornerstone in marketing Korea.