President Lee: "Shift tourism to the regions... We must eradicate price gouging and aggressive touting"

According to The Financial News, President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea stated on the 24th, "Riding on the global boom of K-culture, the number of foreign tourists visiting our country last year nearly reached 19 million, setting a new all-time record," adding, "We should use this momentum as a springboard for a qualitative leap in our tourism industry." He went on to stress that deep-rooted practices such as price gouging and excessive touting must be eradicated.
Presiding over the Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae that day, President Lee noted, "During this Lunar New Year holiday as well, sales to foreign customers at duty-free shops and department stores reportedly surged explosively."
However, President Lee emphasized that qualitative growth is needed to address existing imbalances.
President Lee said, "In particular, we must break away from the imbalance in which 80% of tourists are concentrated in Seoul," and continued, "It would be desirable to bring about a major shift in the tourism industry toward being led by and centered on the regions."
He added, "Along with developing tourism products tailored to each region, I ask that you concentrate policy capabilities on resolving chronic inconveniences in areas ranging from transportation and accommodation to shopping and payment," and said, "We must also root out anachronistic bad practices such as price gouging and excessive touting."
He further remarked, "To realize a Republic of Korea that becomes a K-tourism powerhouse built by all regions together, I ask for active cooperation and communication from central and local governments, as well as from both the private and public sectors."
cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun and Sung Seok-woo Reporter