Seoul Opens New Tourism Hub

The Seoul Tourism Plaza had a grand opening at the heart of the nation’s capital. It will serve as a new hub for the tourism sector, which is expected to recover effectively from this challenging moment within a few years after the pandemic.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) unveiled Seoul Tourism Plaza, a place for everything related to Seoul tourism, on April 29. It is a control tower designed to support qualitative growth of the tourism industry in Seoul, and help it make a new leap forward so that the tourism industry in Seoul can proactively dominate the rapidly changing tourism trends, and overcome the unprecedented blow it experienced due to the prolongation of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Major tourism-related institutions, including the Seoul Tourism Association, international tourism administrations and promising start-ups, are concentrated in one location as well as functions such as tourism policy execution, enterprise–industry support, and networking.

The opening ceremony was held in the morning on the 29th in the presence of Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Considering the current situation concerning COVID-19, only a minimum number of people attended the ceremony. The ceremony was held in the order of supportive messages from Seoul citizens, congratulatory messages from the Korean and international tourism industries, and a facility tour.

On the day of the opening ceremony, seven tourism related associations and organizations, including the Seoul Tourism Association, Australian Tourist Commission, and Korea Association for Professional Convention Organisers (KAPCO) as well as fifteen promising start-ups in the tourism sector selected through a public contest moved into Seoul Tourism Plaza. SMG-affiliated organizations that have been executing Seoul’s tourism policies, such as the Seoul Tourism Organization, and Seoul Tourism/MICE Business Support Centre will also move into Seoul Tourism Plaza, and are expected to generate synergy effects with other organizations.

The SMG will operate Seoul Tourism Plaza according to the three core responsibilities as follows:

1. Support the tourism industry facing a crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. Strengthen the governance through cooperation with major associations, organizations, and private entities;
3. Expand opportunities for citizens to enjoy tourism.

The main focus of Seoul Tourism Plaza is serving as a “space of organic connection through cooperation, and direct participation” for efficient and comprehensive execution of the core responsibilities. It will be operated as a space and a program that embraces the present and the future of the tourism industry in Seoul, and the tourism industry, tourists, and citizens.