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On the 9th, the Korea Tourism Organization and the U.S. startup support foundation ‘Startup Junkie’ signed a business agreement at the Korea Tourism Organization Seoul Center to support overseas proof of concept (PoC) for tourism companies. (Photo = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) photo@newsis.com *Do not resell and do not use for database
“[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Park Joo-yeon = The Korea Tourism Organization is joining hands with the U.S. startup support foundation ‘Startup Junkie’ to support the global growth of innovative tourism companies.”
The two organizations signed a business agreement on the 9th at the Korea Tourism Organization Seoul Center to support overseas proof of concept (PoC) for tourism companies.
Through this agreement, the two organizations will collaborate to support the global growth of excellent domestic tourism companies by ▲supporting overseas proof of concept for domestic tourism companies with innovative technologies and services ▲joint planning for digital transformation and ESG field proof in the global tourism industry ▲exchange of specialized information in order to create collaborative results.
Startup Junkie, founded in 2011 with the participation of the Walton family, founders of Walmart, is a foundation that focuses on accelerating technology and high-growth sectors and operates venture capital (VC) funds, with efforts to promote startup growth and entrepreneurship ecosystems in the United States. Recently, they have been expanding their cooperation with partners in the hotel, convention center, and travel agency industries in Asia.
Based on its expertise in the tourism industry, the Korea Tourism Organization has been supporting the overseas expansion of over 110 startups through the ‘Tourism Global Challenge Program’ for promising companies since 2020 and the overseas tourism support centers in Singapore and Tokyo. Last year, they achieved 80 outcomes such as establishing overseas branches, forming partnerships, and attracting investments.
Kim Dong-il, Head of the Tourism Industry Department at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, “We are planning Indonesia as the first overseas proof of concept country,” and said, “In the future, we will actively secure business cooperation opportunities with government agencies and companies in the overseas tourism sector to create a service export model for domestic tourism companies.”
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