Acting President and Prime Minster Han Duck-soo (right) on Dec. 26 chairs the National Tourism Strategy Meeting at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District. (Office for Government Policy Coordination, Prime Minister’s Office)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

High-level government talks have announced plans to stabilize the domestic tourism market.

Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Dec. 26 chaired the ninth National Tourism Strategy Meeting at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Prime Minister's Office said.

To attract more tourists from abroad, the first task is to raise the convenience of inbound travelers. In consultation with the Ministry of Justice, the temporary exemption period for the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization, which applies to visitors from select countries like the U.S., U.K. and Japan, will be expanded through the end of next year.

Under consideration is a pilot visa-free system within a certain scope for Chinese visitors on group tours recruited by travel agencies. The exemption period for visa issuance fees for tourists on group tours from six countries -- China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and India -- will also be extended through December next year.

Tourism inconveniences will undergo close government screening based on travel routes of foreign visitors and overall improvements will be made.

The government and the private sector will cooperate to allow overseas tourists to use mobile map services in their native languages and make reservations and payments at restaurants more easily. Infrastructure that enables QR code payments will be expanded, especially at major tourist and shopping areas.

The multilingual service of the online rail reservation system will be expanded and the seat selection function will undergo improvement. Ticket vending machines that accept foreign credit cards will also be introduced.

To stimulate inbound tourism, the hosting of large-scale festivals will be bumped up to the first half of next year like the Korea Grand Sale (January-February), the Hallyu (Korean Wave)-themed festival Beyond K-Festa (June) and Korea Beauty Festival (June-July).

aisylu@korea.kr