S.Korea unveils new plan to promote tourism

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 ◆ S.Korea unveils new plan to promote tourism

The South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday announced a second five-year plan aimed at boosting the country's tourism industry.

The new strategy outlines a shift in the primary policy focus from attraction of foreign tourists to revitalizing domestic tourism sector, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a press release.

Under the plan that requires 8 trillion won (6.9 billion US Dollars) from the state coffers and civilian investment, the government hopes to double the number of domestic travels by South Koreans to 12 per person annually by 2008, it said.

An annual average of 10 million foreigners are expected to visit South Korea by then, increasing the country's annual income from tourism to 10 billion US dollars. Currently, there are about 5.3 million foreign visitors each year.

South Korea's first five-year plan on tourism was in effect until last year.

To further promote tourism, the government will push to revise laws to lower taxes levied on hotels and other tourism-related businesses and aggressively lure more foreign investment in the industry.

A so-called "Korea Center" will be established in major cities abroad, such as Beijing, Los Angeles and New York, to help foreigners get easy access to information on South Korea's culture and tourism.