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Expanding Tourism Across All Industries and Turning All of Busan into a Tourism Stage: Launch of the “2026 Busan Tourism Startup Contest”

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) and the Busan Tourism Organization (President Lee Jeong-sil) announced that the Busan Tourism Business Support Center (Director Kim Mun-jun, hereinafter referred to as the Center) will hold the “2026 Busan Tourism Startup Contest.”

The Busan Tourism Startup Contest aims to discover creative and attractive tourism enterprises, revitalize the regional tourism startup ecosystem, and strengthen corporate competitiveness. Applications will be accepted from March 9 to March 25.

Recruitment will take place across three sectors—early-stage, growth, and regional co-prosperity tourism startups—with around 20 companies to be selected.

Eligibility is open to individuals and companies that possess business ideas or plans in the tourism sector, including companies based in Busan, companies from other regions planning to establish a new business registration in Busan, and prospective entrepreneurs.

In particular, the city and the Center have newly introduced a technology innovation category based on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms this year to further strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism industry.

The recruitment categories are divided into five types: smart tourism (new), data and operational technology, infrastructure and spatial innovation, experience and themed tourism, and region-specific local content.

The city and the Center plan to enhance the effectiveness of the contest by providing practical and tangible support to the companies selected this year, including commercialization funding, opportunities to move into the Center, and consulting services.

Selected companies will receive customized support covering the full growth cycle, including commercialization funding ranging from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, opportunities to occupy space within the Center, and consulting linked to government support programs.

In particular, this year all selected companies will receive commercialization funding, along with additional support such as partial labor cost assistance through intern recruitment linkages and a full exemption from rent and management fees for companies that move into the Center, further reducing operational burdens.

Individuals and companies wishing to participate in the contest can submit their applications through the Korea Tourism Industry Portal Touraz (https://touraz.kr). Final selections will be made in April following a first-round document screening and a second-round interview evaluation.

In addition, the Center will concurrently run the “Outstanding Tourism Content Discovery Contest” this month for companies discovered and fostered between 2019 and 2025.

The contest aims to cultivate tourism content with high market applicability among 273 tourism startups previously discovered by the Center. A total of 20 companies selected through this program will each receive KRW 5 million in commercialization funding.

This initiative is intended to move beyond short-term, single-year support for tourism startups and evolve into a sustainable “running-mate–style support structure” that accompanies companies throughout their long-term growth.

Furthermore, the city and the Center plan to promote collaboration between the Center’s resident companies and online travel agency (OTA) platforms such as KKday and Frip. By combining the distribution and outreach power of OTAs with the creativity of startups, they aim to accelerate the development of Busan-style flagship tourism content.

Meanwhile, since 2019, the city and the Center have discovered and fostered a total of 273 tourism startups, building the largest tourism startup ecosystem among regional tourism enterprise support centers nationwide.

In 2025, the Busan Tourism Startup Contest recorded a competition ratio of 4.6 to 1, renewing the highest level of competition since the Center opened.

The achievements of companies discovered last year have also drawn attention. The hair and beauty platform LiveX successfully attracted an investment of KRW 4 billion, while the educational travel brand Nanugi World has expanded its residential education tourism programs for students from Mongolia and Thailand.

In addition, the signature product “eopo twigak” from Busaneuldam-eun gained strong public response at locations such as The Hyundai and the POST-APEC pop-up store following a successful rebranding. The retro-style accommodation Gukjejang Inn collaborated with the flower arrangement experience tourism company Onhwagong to create plant-based interior design, while H-Hour enhanced the content quality of the accommodation by operating experience programs linked with Chinese-language influencers.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “Tourism is expanding beyond traditional sectors such as lodging and travel into a wide range of industries including gastronomy, wellness, medical services, and beauty. Our city will continue to broaden the stage of tourism and pursue more progressive and expansive policies centered on the tourism startup contest so that Busan’s tourism enterprises can grow into leading players within regional industries.”