The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Foundation said on the 18th that they have selected five corporations to participate in the '2025 Seoul tourism startup cooperation project.'
This project is an initiative to support promising corporations to strengthen the foundation of the Seoul tourism industry. Since its launch in 2016, a total of 96 tourism startups have been discovered and nurtured.
This year's project saw a total of 152 corporations applying during the public recruitment last month, reflecting a high competition rate of 30 to 1. After passing through the first document review, the second interview, and the third final audition, five corporations were selected.
According to the final audition results, the Daesang was awarded to Good Luck Company (same-day luggage storage and delivery service). The grand award went to Cross Hub (self-sovereign identity and mobile easy payment solution), while the excellence awards were given to Selectrip (K-POP idol voice-guided tours), Foshifush (K-POP themed total beauty styling experiences), and Hoppers (customized services for long-term foreign tourists).
The selected corporations will receive a total of 200 million won, with project costs ranging from 30 million won to 70 million won based on their rankings, to enhance the quality of tourism services.
Participating in customized nurturing support programs with experts (accelerators) and support for overseas expansion will also take place.
The city plans to provide follow-up support, including service enhancement consulting and promotional connections with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and related agencies, even after the support project period ends.
Goo Jong-won, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Tourism and Sports Bureau, noted, "We will continue to discover and nurture tourism startups with innovative services, creating a travel environment where tourists visiting Seoul can enjoy the city more conveniently and interestingly."