2025 Travel Innovation Contest: Shaping the Future of Regional Tourism

463 participants, 168 proposals seeking strategies to revitalize local tourism

Yanolja Research, Korea’s first independent think tank dedicated to the travel and tourism industry (headed by Director SooCheong Jang), successfully concluded the 2025 Travel Innovation Idea Contest, co-hosted with Nol Universe. Centered on the theme of regional tourism revitalization, the contest drew attention as an opportunity to inject new energy into local economies through the fresh ideas of young innovators.

A Model for Industry-Academia Collaboration Three Years in a Row

Since 2023, Yanolja Research has been organizing this contest for university and graduate students to discover and nurture future leaders of the tourism industry. The first year focused on platform economy and digital transformation, while last year’s theme addressed inbound tourism revitalization. To date, about 800 students have participated, establishing the contest as a leading example of successful industry-academia collaboration in tourism.

Now in its third year, the 2025 contest called for realistic and creative ideas under the theme of regional tourism revitalization, including:
▲ Strategies for revitalizing regional tourism
▲ Planning of local tourism products and services
▲ Policy proposals for sustainable regional tourism
A total of 463 participants submitted 168 proposals, showcasing strong interest and passion for local tourism.

Outstanding Youth Ideas in a Highly Competitive Contest

The final evaluation and awards ceremony were held on July 24 at the Yanolja Research headquarters in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The top 10 finalist teams presented their ideas on-site, receiving enthusiastic responses from the judges. The evaluation focused on fairness and expertise, with creativity and feasibility as key judging criteria.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Younghwan Kim for his proposal on "Establishing Regional Tourism Linkage Strategies Based on the PRISM Framework and Network Analysis."
The Excellence Award went to the team "Have Fun!" (Jeonghwan Choi, Sungjae Woo, Chae-eun Lee, Won-jae Ha), who proposed a strategy to boost tourism motivation through traditional liquor guides.
Two teams received Merit Awards, and six teams were honored with Honorable Mentions. A total of KRW 13 million in prizes was awarded, along with internship priority at Nol Universe.

Experts Praise the Contest: “Youth Creativity Is the Future of Tourism”

Professor Kyuwan Choi of Kyung Hee University’s College of Hotel & Tourism Management, who served as head judge, praised the event:
“The participants’ thoughtful, creative efforts to tackle challenges in regional tourism were impressive. Particularly noteworthy were their ideas involving collaboration with local communities, sustainability, and digital innovation.”
He added, “If such ideas are incorporated into real policies and business models, they could significantly enhance the competitiveness of Korea’s regional tourism.”

Director SooCheong Jang of Yanolja Research commented, “This contest shed new light on the potential of regional tourism and reaffirmed the broader innovation potential of Korea’s tourism industry. Yanolja Research will continue to support youth-driven innovation and foster a globally competitive tourism sector.”

More than a competition, this event served as a platform for generating actionable strategies to ensure sustainable regional tourism growth and enhance global competitiveness. Yanolja Research and Nol Universe are planning follow-up projects based on the contest and are considering the commercialization of select award-winning ideas. All eyes are now on how these fresh ideas will transform the future of local tourism.

[Photo] Group Photo from the 2025 Travel Innovation Idea Contest Award Ceremony
Front row, from left: Seong-Sik Park (CEO of Yanolja Research and Vice President of Nol Universe), Professor Kyoo-Wan Choi (Kyung Hee University), Jong-Yoon Kim (CEO of Yanolja Cloud), Soo-Chung Jang (Professor at Purdue University and Director of Yanolja Research), Dong-Hee Kim (Professor at Sookmyung Women’s University), Kwan-Young Lee (Associate Research Fellow at Yanolja Research).
Back row: Award winners from this year’s contest. / Photo credit: Yanolja Research