The Korea Tourism Organization Selects Six Innovative AI Tech Companies to Solve Local Tourism Challenges in Hadong, Gyeonggi-do Area

Real-World Proof of Concepts Slated for This Year, Ranging from Crowd and Parking Density Analysis to AI Multilingual Interpretation

The Korea Tourism Organization (CEO Park Sung-hyuk) announced on the 28th that it selected six innovative tech companies through the "AI-Based Regional Tourism Problem-Solving Project" to resolve key issues in major tourist destinations of Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province. This initiative aims to address on-the-ground tourism challenges and boost regional tourism competitiveness by collaborating with private enterprises equipped with cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence to enhance visitor convenience and safety.

The project targets Hadong, home to the millennium-old Ssanggyesa Temple on Mount Jirisan—which attracts over 500,000 annual visitors—and Hwagae Market, a representative traditional market drawing about one million people. The region faces several tourism bottlenecks, including inconvenient transit between attractions, safety risks from crowd density during the cherry blossom and autumn foliage seasons, a lack of multilingual guidance for foreign visitors, and severe parking congestion.

To tackle these issues, the organization established five core tasks centered on AI mapping, crowd density analysis, multilingual guides, parking congestion tracking, and customized services. Working alongside the selected AI firms, the organization will begin upgrading the tourism infrastructure starting this September.

The six participating companies chosen for the project include Frigrow Co., Ltd., which provides customized travel routes based on AI maps; Deepensing Source Inc., specializing in crowd and vehicle congestion analysis; XL8 AI Inc., offering AI docent and multilingual tourism translation services; Intflow Inc., providing CCTV-based parking lot congestion analytics; CFlat AI, an AI digital human enterprise; and TailStudio, a company specializing in customized AI video content creation.

Kim Young-mi, Head of the Tourism AI Innovation Division, stated that collaborating with private companies possessing exceptional technological capabilities marks a meaningful milestone in resolving Hadong County's tourism challenges. She added that the organization will continue to expand partnerships with the private sector to alleviate various inconveniences across local tourism sites.