NEW ONE-STOP TOURISM HUB OPENS IN SEOUL
Korea has seen the grand opening of the Seoul Tourism Plaza – a new and dynamic national hub for the travel sector.
With Seoul’s tourism industry expecting to recover effectively from recent challenging times and prepare for the coming years, the new one-stop plaza plans to support four areas in establishing a robust ecosystem for the local tourism industry: communication, governance, incubating, and innovation.
A tourism information centre welcomes the public on the first floor with a souvenir shop. Meeting rooms and lounges throughout the plaza are to be open for classes and workshops to exchange information and knowledge.
Relevant industry associations and companies from the private sector are on the plaza’s tenant list. The Seoul Tourism Organisation, which is affiliated to the city government, cooperate in shaping the governance of the industry. Two floors of the plaza are for start-ups and professionals incubating future energy of the industry.
The plaza not only has broadcasting studios and a medical tourism promotional centre, but there is also a Seoul Tourism and MICE Centre to offer professional consulting and counselling services for the MICE industry.
As stakeholders in the tourism sector had been longing to have a “meeting point for the industry” in Seoul, the plaza is expected to play an essential role in revitalising tourism and bouncing back strongly with combined strength.
Seoul Tourism Plaza, located inside Samil Building in the central Jongno Ward, is spread across floors one and four to 11. The city government says the plaza aims to help local tourism businesses overcome the COVID-19 crisis and lead the fast-changing trends in the industry.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said: “Tourism in the post-COVID-19 era will focus on safety, localisation, and going virtual or digital.
“The city of Seoul is actively pursuing projects to support, restore and advance the city’s tourism sector in order to secure a top place in terms in demand in the global tourism market.”
Oh says the plaza’s three core areas of focus will be: providing assistance to tourism businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening cooperation between relevant associations and the public and private sectors, and expanding tourism opportunities for citizens.
The plaza’s tenants also include the Asia Inbound Tourism Association, and a local marketing company representing Tourism Australia, the country’s state tourism agency.
The city government says the plaza was formed in response to industry calls for a tourism hub in the capital, after the state Korea Tourism Organisation relocated to Wonju, Gangwon Province, in 2015.
