Tourism sector to have export performance recognized, opening up access to trade finance

Tourism businesses will now be able to have the foreign currency they earn by attracting foreign tourists and providing accommodation and travel services, among other things, officially recognized as export performance, opening the way to trade finance support.
The Korea Tourism Association said it signed an MOU to strengthen competitiveness in service trade with the Korea International Trade Association, Korea Creative Content Agency, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Korea Artificial Intelligence and Software Industry Association, and Korea Shipowners’ Association at the Trade Tower in Seoul’s Gangnam District on the 10th.
The agreement was drawn up to integrate systems for issuing, reviewing and compiling statistics on service export performance, which are currently dispersed among different organizations, into the next-generation trade platform based on artificial intelligence (AI) that the Korea International Trade Association is developing.
The tourism industry is a leading service-export industry that earns foreign currency through domestic spending by foreign tourists, but the intangible nature of service transactions has made it difficult to objectively verify export performance. As a result, tourism businesses have faced limits in being recognized as export companies and making use of various support programs, including trade finance.
Under the agreement, the Korea Tourism Association will establish the scope and recognition criteria for service exports in tourism subsectors, including travel agencies, tourist accommodation and international convention businesses, and create a specialized joint review system for the tourism sector. This will enable tourism businesses to officially verify their export performance through the next-generation trade platform and access linked financial support, such as export guarantees and insurance from K-SURE.
The Korea International Trade Association will build the integrated platform and establish a single window for issuing export performance records, while KOCCA will standardize the classification system for content exports. The Korea Artificial Intelligence and Software Industry Association and the Korea Shipowners’ Association also plan to develop export classification and review systems tailored respectively to IT and software, and to the shipping industry.
“Foreign tourists coming to our country and spending here is itself an export,” said Kyoung Soo Lee, chairman of the Korea Tourism Association. “We will establish a tourism-specific classification system and joint review system so that the tourism industry can make a genuine leap into an export industry.”
[email protected] Sun-Min Jung Reporter