Culture, Sports and Tourism Organization to Support Global Debut of Future 'K-Tourism Unicorn'

*This content was translated by AI.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (hereinafter referred to as the "Corporation") have selected 30 companies to participate in the "2026 Tourism Global Challenge" program.

The Tourism Global Challenge, which has become a gateway for promising tourism companies to expand overseas, was supported by 209 companies this year, recording the highest competition rate ever of 6.9 to 1. A large number of companies with traditional tourism industry innovation technologies as well as highly scalable business models such as K-culture, medical, and digital transformation (DX) were selected.

Major companies selected include ▲ beauty care platform credit ticket operator 'Fastrain' ▲ K-wellness hotel development and marketing automation linkage solution 'The Rest' ▲ Entertainment platform 'Modhouse' ▲ AI-based K-IP value analysis and content goods planning 'Pepper & Salt' ▲ mobile facility control service 'EMCT' ▲ 'Parasta Entertainment', which develops K-pop-related products using the world's first deaf idol 'Big Ocean' IP.

The selected companies will work with overseas accelerators by the end of this year to enter overseas markets such as Japan, the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The corporation provides differential support for commercialization funds of up to 200 million won for each company and operates capacity-building programs such as global business diagnosis, IR consulting, and market-specific strategies. It also provides opportunities to participate in business networking events such as domestic and foreign start-up fairs and Demo Day.

"As we were selected through the largest competition rate ever this year, we have high expectations for innovation and scalability of participating companies," said Moon So-yeon, head of the corporation's tourism company development team. "As a follow-up to the 11th National Tourism Strategy Meeting, the corporation will do its best to create the next K-tourism unicorn company through full support to enhance the overseas business capabilities of selected companies."

Meanwhile, the Global Tourism Challenge has helped a total of 147 companies enter the global market since its introduction in 2020. The Service Platform, which participated last year, attracted 1 billion won in investment from Japan's largest online travel agency, Air Trip, and 'Haenyeo's Kitchen' established a local subsidiary in Singapore to begin its expansion into Southeast Asia. In addition, TripVitoz is making significant achievements by signing a contract worth 2 billion won with local hotel group Aquifelago through participation in the Southeast Asian demonstration project.

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*This content was translated by AI.