Gyeonggi Province to Support Some 500 Tourism Businesses with Declining Sales Up to 3 Million Won Each

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will provide a maximum of 3 million won in rental subsidies to approximately 500 tourism businesses facing revenue declines amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

From October 7 to 22 at 6 p.m., Gyeonggi Province will accept applications for the 'COVID-19 Overcome Tourism Industry Activation Support Project (2nd Round)' through the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization website (ggwithyou.com).

Eligible applicants are businesses located in Gyeonggi Province that completed tourism business registration or national tax office business registration by December 31 last year.

As of the announcement date of October 7, businesses must not be in suspended or closed status and must have experienced a decline in average daily sales in the first half of this year compared to 2019-2020.

Businesses that received support through the first round of Gyeonggi Province's 'COVID-19 Overcome Tourism Industry Activation Support Project' in the first half of this year are ineligible to apply.

Businesses operating facilities with personal ownership or full deposit lease arrangements are also restricted from applying.

Additionally, businesses that received administrative sanctions of 10 days or more of business suspension or equivalent surcharges under the Tourism Promotion Act on or after January 1, 2019 are ineligible for support.

Dual-purpose travel agencies operating both domestically and internationally may apply with only one business entity.

Selection criteria for supported businesses are based on the rate of decline in average daily sales in the first half of this year compared to 2019-2020, and selection continues until the budget is exhausted. The list of selected businesses will be announced on the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization website from November 1 onwards.

Support funds are scheduled to be disbursed from early November.

Details on application requirements and required documents can be found in announcements posted on the Gyeonggi Province (gg.go.kr), Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (gto.or.kr), and Gyeonggi Tourism Association (gta.or.kr) websites.

Kim Jin-gi, director of Gyeonggi Province's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, said, "Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to reinitiate the tourism industry support project that was promoted in the first half to maintain the tourism industry ecosystem," adding "We hope this will provide some assistance in sustaining the industry until tourism operations return to normal."

The province previously supported 335 tourism businesses in Gyeonggi Province with up to 3 million won each in business facility rental fees through the first round of the 'COVID-19 Overcome Tourism Industry Support Project' in the first half of this year.