The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning has quickly initiated the plan for Chinese group tourists to enter the country without a visa as part of efforts to rationalize regulations in the tourism sector. Additionally, the committee has selected the simplification of entry screening for international conference participants and the realistic application of criteria for excellent medical tourism attraction organizations as rapid initiatives.

On the 16th, Spokesperson Cho Seung-rae is giving a briefing related to the first plenary session of the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning at the Government Seoul Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. (Joint coverage) /Courtesy of News1

Spokesperson Cho Seung-rae noted in a written briefing on the 6th that the Economic 1st Subcommittee's Regulatory Rationalization Task Force has proposed to the government to quickly promote the 'three key tasks for tourism regulation rationalization' to open the era of 30 million tourists visiting Korea.

The committee identified the three key tasks for tourism regulation rationalization as ▲ implementing visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists ▲ simplifying entry screening for international conference participants ▲ making the criteria for excellent medical tourism attraction organizations realistic. Spokesperson Cho explained, 'The plan includes measures to alleviate the inconveniences faced by foreign tourists and to improve unreasonable regulations in line with reality.'

The committee plans to support the tourism industry by allowing visa-free entry for Chinese, who account for a large proportion of foreign tourists. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, among the 8,825,967 foreign tourists who visited Korea from January to June, 2,530,000 were Chinese, the highest number. Earlier, China began allowing visa-free entry for Korean citizens from November of last year.

The simplification of entry screening for international conference participants has been proposed to the government as part of efforts to activate the MICE industry and enhance competitiveness in attracting international conferences. The criteria for excellent medical tourism attraction organizations currently include 'at least 30 medical tourism visa cases, more than 500 foreign patient treatment cases', with an additional requirement of more than 500 foreign attraction cases.

Spokesperson Cho emphasized, 'The committee will convey its opinions to the government and the National Assembly so that unnecessary regulations can be boldly improved.'

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