*This content was translated by AI.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 6th that it has selected six "wellness tourism cluster" business sites to foster wellness tourism.
Wellness tourism refers to 'health tourism' consisting of healing programs such as spa, beauty, and oriental medicine. Compared to other types of tourism, consumption is larger and the revisit rate is higher. With the recent era of 1 million medical tourists visiting Korea, it is attracting attention as a next-generation engine for the tourism market.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to select Daegu and Busan as medical tourism-oriented clusters and Incheon, Gangwon, Jeonbuk, and Chungbuk as wellness tourism-oriented clusters and provide intensive support. It invests 450 million won per location, a total of 2.7 billion won, to discover new resources and help commercialize them.
Daegu develops more than 60 representative tourism products over three years, and Busan establishes a promotional strategy that utilizes the characteristics of a marine resort city. Incheon has set a goal of attracting 1.46 million domestic and foreign medical and wellness tourists by 2028. Countries such as North Jeolla Province and North Chungcheong Province also make products differentiated from those in the Seoul metropolitan area.
Incheon plans to attract 1.46 million domestic and foreign medical and wellness tourists by "28" by subdividing tourism targets into four areas: the urban area (medical and beauty), Songdo area (connected by MICE), Yeongjong area (connected airport and port), and Ganghwa area (natural and healing). Under the theme of "Gangwon-type Sleep Wellness Tourism," Gangwon will discover regional resources such as Wonju (Digital Healthcare), Yangyang (dynamic activity), Pyeongchang (forest utilization), and Jeongseon (natural rest type) and attract long-term tourists. Jeonbuk plans to upgrade the Jeonbuk-type wellness theme, which links local "human resources" such as Hanok Village and independent bookstores with "healing food" such as fermentation and local ingredients. Chungbuk plans to develop specialized resources in the region, focusing on four key cities and themes: Cheongju (Spa and Beauty), Chungju (Meditation), Jecheon (traditional oriental medicine), and Jeungpyeong (forest and nature), and spread the brand awareness of Blue Wellness, the only inland city that combines watersides and forests.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained that it will lead the expanding wellness tourism market by combining tourism resources and medical bases owned by local governments. According to a tally by GWI (Global Wellness Association) last year, the global wellness market is expected to grow 7.6% annually by 2029.
An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "We expect that the selection of the wellness cluster will actively foster attractive high value-added tourist destinations in the region."
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*This content was translated by AI.
