Korea turns to public for next tourism strategy

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism headquarters at Government Complex Sejong

As Korea grapples with an accelerating demographic crisis that threatens to hollow out its rural provinces, the government is turning to its own citizens to help rescue local economies.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, alongside the Korea Tourism Organization, recently concluded a fast-paced, three-week public policy competition that drew over 1,100 submissions. The competition aims to crowdsource novel, actionable ideas to boost inbound international travel and breathe life into the country’s quiet regional economies.

The initiative follows directives from February’s National Tourism Strategy Council, where officials stressed the urgent need to decentralize tourism away from Seoul. Ultimately, judges selected 20 winning proposals, ranging from regulatory overhauls to transit overhauls.

Taking the grand prize was Kim Deok-hyeon, a graduate student in his 20s, who proposed expanding Korea's existing tourism resident ID card to foreign visitors. Currently restricted to citizens, the program grants cardholders discounts on lodging and experiences in designated regions with severe population decline. Under Kim’s framework, international tourists will receive a modified digital pass bundled with regional transit discounts and long-stay incentives, effectively nudging travelers past the capital's borders.

Other top honors targeted systemic bottlenecks.

Jung In-hyo, an undergraduate student, secured an excellence prize for a blueprint to maximize the financial impact of cruise ship layovers on Jeju Island. Meanwhile, Park Ji-myeong, a self-employed businessman in his 50s, won for his concept of Tourism Sandbox zones — regulatory-free havens where entrepreneurs can pilot experiential tourism services without navigating standard bureaucratic red tape.

Among the 17 merit-tier winners were pragmatic fixes to Korea's rural transit hurdles, including a taxi voucher program linking quiet regional airports directly to remote sights, and a sports-centric travel pass tied to regional professional game schedules.

While the financial rewards are modest — the grand prize nets 1 million won (about $640) — the cultural impact could be significant. Ministry officials confirmed they are actively reviewing the top proposals to integrate them into upcoming national policy, transforming citizen ideas into official state strategy.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.