8:1 Competition Ratio, 30 Preliminary, 70 Initial, 40 Growth Selected
Up to 100 million won in support for commercializing
“(Seoul=News1) By Yoon Seul-bin, Tourism Specialist Reporter – The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 23rd that it has selected 140 tourism venture companies for the ’16th Tourism Venture Business Contest’ in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”
Earlier, from February 10 to March 10 this year, a total of 1,112 companies applied across three categories: preliminary tourism ventures (pre-startups), initial tourism ventures (under 3 years old), and growth tourism ventures (over 3 but under 7 years old), recording the highest competition ratio ever of 8:1.
Among these, 30 preliminary tourism ventures, 70 initial tourism ventures, and 40 growth tourism venture companies were finally selected through document reviews and presentation evaluations.
The major businesses of the selected tourism venture companies focused on ‘the application of generalized artificial intelligence (AI) technology’, ‘enhancing personal convenience through digital transformation’, and ‘personalized wellness healing travel’, aligning with the major tourism trends of 2025.
Notable selected ventures include △AI-based pet care matching platform ‘WooZooPet’ △AI-based SNS content mapping and search service ‘Near’ △Platform for easy claims for compensation for flight delays/cancellations ‘FlyRefund’ △Drone shooting service at travel destinations utilizing autonomous flight technology ‘Oca’ △Frozen egg concierge for foreign women ‘WeltripKorea’, among others.
There were also many specialized content businesses linking leisure activities such as pet care, running, and camping. These include weekend leisure curation service ‘Weekendory’, the largest domestic outdoor community platform targeting the 20s and 30s ‘R&One’ (Fair Play), regional experience-based running tourism program ‘Jangsu Trail Race’, AI technology-based campsite customized recommendation solution ‘Camperest’, mission-style pet culture travel community platform ‘DangScout’, GPS-based territorial game ‘Korea Around’, and Korea travel service enjoyed like a game ‘Play Korea’.
The selected tourism venture companies will receive commercialization support funds ranging from 30 million won to a maximum of 100 million won, along with customized diagnostics and consulting, investment attraction, and industry collaboration and exchanges.
Additionally, they will have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Tourism Open Wave’ program, an open innovation (OI) collaboration project initiated by the Organization this year. This aims to support the growth of tourism venture companies through collaboration with tourism enterprises and large companies like Yanolja, Expedia, and Trip.com, as well as local governments.
The results of this contest can be verified on the Korea Tourism Industry Portal ‘Tour RAZ’ under Policy Support/Business News.
The Tourism Venture Contest, which started in 2011 and marks its 16th edition this year, has contributed to expanding the scope of the tourism industry by discovering over 1,700 innovative tourism companies and creating more than 4,800 jobs through new tourism content.
<Glossary>
■ Open Innovation
A strategy where a company introduces specific technologies and information from external sources like other companies or research institutions, and shares internal resources or technologies externally to create new products or services.