Leveraging the 2025 APEC Legacy to Strengthen Local Tourism Marketing Capabilities Tailored for Inbound Travelers in the Gyeongsang Region 

KTO and the Korea APEC Association Sign MOU... Strengthening Industry-Academia Cooperation for Regional Tourism Revitalization 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (hereinafter referred to as KTO) held the "Post-APEC Tourism Dure Revitalization Workshop" on the 30th at the Lahan Select Hotel in the Bomun Tourist Complex, Gyeongju. This workshop was designed to promote regional tourism in the Gyeongsang region by utilizing the APEC legacy of Gyeongju—the host city of the 2025 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting—and to strengthen the marketing capabilities of Tourism Dure resident-led businesses tailored for international visitors.

The event was attended by around 100 participants, including Tourism Dure PDs (regional tourism experts), as well as representatives from Tourism Dure resident-led businesses and youth resident-led businesses in the Gyeongsang region. KTO invited tourism experts to deliver lectures on topics such as ▲ strategies for linking with KTO’s overseas marketing programs, ▲ regional tourism trend analysis and insights, and ▲ local content branding methods. Participants explored directions for publicity and marketing to effectively connect Gyeongju's heightened tourism awareness following the 2025 APEC summit with the region's attractive tourism contents.

On the same day, KTO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea APEC Association, establishing a regional industry-academia cooperation system leveraging the APEC legacy. Moving forward, the two organizations will cooperate closely in various ways to vitalize regional tourism, including ▲ research on sustainable regional tourism revitalization, ▲ upgrading regional tourism content businesses, and ▲ promoting activities to increase university student participation in the tourism industry.

Park Jung-woong, Head of the Tourism Welfare Division at KTO, stated, "This workshop will serve as an opportunity to elevate the content competitiveness of resident-led businesses, which form the roots of regional tourism. We will spare no effort in providing support so that the global attention focused on Gyeongju and the Gyeongsang region through the 2025 APEC can lead to sustainable regional tourism revitalization."