Southern region tourism council holds 3rd 2026 meeting

Busan, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province and the Jeolla region have joined forces to develop interconnected tourist destinations, aiming to create places where visitors will want to stay an extra day.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the special integrated city of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province, along with their four regional tourism organizations, will meet in Ulsan from Thursday to Friday for the "2026 3rd Southern Region Integrated Tourism Council." The meeting will review progress on the southern region's tourism development project and discuss ways to cooperate on joint promotional initiatives.

The Southern Region Integrated Tourism Council was launched in 2024 with the goal of creating destinations where travelers stay an extra day. It brought together the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the four southern region local governments and their tourism organizations to boost tourism in the area.

On the first day of the meeting, the four local governments presented their project achievements and future plans and reported on joint promotional projects. They also discussed common tasks aimed at strengthening the connectivity and scalability of the southern region's tourism development project.

The joint agenda covered a wide range of cooperation measures to strengthen the southern region's tourism competitiveness. These included a tourism-linkage project using the Namdo Marine Train — which runs the Gyeongjeon Line connecting Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces — as well as joint promotion and marketing. Other measures included participation in domestic and international tourism expos and the establishment of a performance management system.

After the meeting, participants visited Ulsan's signature attractions — Taehwagang National Garden, Jangsaengpo in Nam-gu, and Ilsan Beach and Daewangam Park in Dong-gu. They explored tourism content that could be linked to the southern region project.

Ulsan used the occasion to introduce its marine, ecological and cultural tourism resources, proposing ways to create synergy between the city and other areas in the southern region tourism initiative.

An Ulsan city official said, "The southern region tourism cooperation project is an important initiative that connects the tourism resources of individual regions to create greater synergy. We will work to build cooperation through this council so that the southern region can grow together."