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Like in most countries, the summer months are the peak time for travel in Korea.
In an attempt to spread out demand,... and to create more tourism hot spots in the country,
the government unveiled a second batch of tourism promotion measures on Monday.
Our presidential office correspondent Eoh Jin-joo has this report. If the government's
first set of tourism promotion measures in July was focused on bringing foreign tourists
to Korea,... its second batch of measures unveiled Monday is aimed at enhancing domestic
tourism. The government laid out its plans in a meeting
presided over by President Park Geun-hye on Monday.
One part of the plan involves the establishment of so-called "tourism weeks" in spring and
fall to more evenly distribute the nation's tourism demand, which currently peaks in the
summer. The designation will cover a total of 22 days
from May 1st to the 11th and September 25th to October 5th.
The tourism ministry and the education ministry are considering whether to close elementary,
middle and high schools for short vacations during these periods.
Also starting this year, the government will select three "tourist cities of the year."
Each of the three cities will be provided with as much as 2-point-3 million dollars
over a three-year period. President Park described tourism as a "goose
that lays golden eggs" and pledged to include tourism as the key sector in her three-year
plan for economic innovation.
"As the tourism industry is a sector that could create high added value by simply changing
one's way of thinking, we should actively find and reform unnecessary measures that
remain in the industry."
She called for world-class policies... that are in line with the public's rising standards
and those that bring out the unique characteristics of each region.
Koreans spend around 23 billion dollars a year on domestic tourism, triggering more
than 36 billion dollars in production and creating some 5 million jobs.
President Park emphasized that should domestic tourism increase by 10 percent above that,
the effect would be enormous. The president was joined at Monday's meeting
by the Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization, Taleb Rifai.
"President Park also highlighted the importance of nurturing students in vocational high schools
for the tourism industry, benchmarking Switzerland's advanced vocational system, saying it will
raise the nation's youth employment level and help meet the demands for employees in
the sector. Eoh Jin-joo, Arirang News."