South Korea launches 'Rising Star' tourism contest for local governments

The government is jointly launching a new tourism policy competition targeting local governments as part of efforts to counter population decline and revitalize regional economies. Local governments selected as finalists will receive fiscal incentives.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Interior and Safety said they will jointly run "Korea Tourism Rising Star" — a regional tourism innovation idea competition open to local governments nationwide — with the aim of injecting vitality into local economies and driving growth in the tourism industry.

The competition is the first collaborative project to emerge from the two ministries' "Regional Tourism Policy Council," which launched Thursday. It reflects the government's commitment to addressing the threat of regional population decline and reviving local economies through tourism innovation.

To support the initiative, the government will expand and restructure "Korea Tourism Star," an annual awards program that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has hosted and the Korea Tourism Organization has organized since 2010. While "Korea Tourism Star" recognizes tourism resources, individuals and organizations that achieved outstanding results in a given year, "Korea Tourism Rising Star" will have the two ministries provide incentives to local governments from the initial policy idea stage through to the development of strong policies.

Applications are open from Tuesday through Oct. 20, with policy ideas submitted by local governments evaluated across four categories: tourism product innovation, tourism spending promotion, tourism trust recovery and tourism income villages. The 13 local governments ultimately selected will receive fiscal incentives. Those that translate their ideas into actual policies and achieve strong results will also earn the right to advance directly to the finals of the 2027 "Korea Tourism Star" awards.

Alongside this, the government will raise the profile of "Korea Tourism Star," the country's flagship tourism awards program. Starting this year, the "Tourism Destination of the Year" category will be elevated from a minister-level award to a prime minister's award — the top honor in the program.

"Korea Tourism Star" will accept nominations from local governments and tourism experts from Tuesday through Aug. 7. Nominations are open across three divisions and 10 categories: the tourism destinations and content division, covering Tourism Destination of the Year, Promising Tourism Destination, Barrier-Free Tourism Destination, Eco-Friendly Tourism Destination and Region-Specific Content; the tourism policy and service division, covering Regional Co-prosperity Tourism Model, Innovative Tourism Policy and National Travel Experience Innovation Service; and the tourism marketing division, covering K-Content That Promoted Korea and Regional Tourism Branding.

Kang Jeong-won, director general for tourism policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the ministry will "actively support the realization of creative tourism policy ideas from local governments that shine like rising stars, and help them grow into the representative tourism stars of Korea — the hope of the regions." He added that the ministry particularly looks forward to "fresh and innovative policy proposals and active participation from the newly launched ninth round of directly elected local governments, who are brimming with enthusiasm for regional development."