[Edaily Kang Gyeong-rok Travel Reporter] It has been revealed that 8 out of 10 projects aimed at attracting foreign tourists, carried out by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in partnership with online travel agencies (OTAs), were concentrated on overseas platforms. Overseas OTAs also accounted for 66.4% of the total budget spent on these projects.
According to data submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization and released on the 8th by Rep. Cho Gye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, there were a total of 501 OTA-linked inbound tourism projects from 2021 to 2026. Of these, 401 (80.0%) were linked to overseas OTAs, while 100 (20.0%) were linked to domestic OTAs.

The total amount disbursed during the same period was 21.36042 billion won. Of this, 14.17342 billion won (66.4%) was paid to overseas OTAs, and 7.187 billion won (33.6%) was paid to domestic OTAs. This figure represents the disbursements for OTA-linked inbound tourism projects, not the KTO’s overall budget.
The share of overseas OTA projects exceeded 70% in every year surveyed: 70.7% in 2021, 89.8% in 2022, 80.3% in 2023, 76.1% in 2024, and 77.8% in 2025. Of the 144 projects last year, 112 were linked to overseas OTAs and 32 to domestic OTAs.
This year’s figures show 89 projects with overseas OTAs and 15 with domestic OTAs, with overseas projects accounting for 85.6% of the total. The total funding disbursed was 2.97885 billion won for overseas projects and 1.03351 billion won for domestic projects, with overseas projects accounting for 74.2% of the total. However, the data did not specify the cutoff date for this year’s tally.
The number of supported projects by platform increased for Klook, rising from 5 in 2023 to 20 in 2024 and 25 last year. For Expedia, the number rose from 1 in 2022 to 9 last year. This year’s data includes 14 projects for Klook and 13 for Expedia. Performance metrics regarding the number of foreign visitors attracted and product sales revenue by platform were not included in the publicly available data.

Rep. Cho’s office also raised concerns about consumer protection issues related to overseas accommodation booking platforms. Of the 21 cases involving accommodation booking platforms handled by the Fair Trade Commission between 2016 and 2025—as disclosed by Rep. Cho’s office—15 involved overseas operators. These cases included corrective orders, fines, as well as the termination of review procedures following compliance with recommendations or voluntary corrective actions.
Rep. Cho stated, “During this parliamentary audit, I will thoroughly examine the unfair practices of global OTAs and the resulting consumer harm, and I will lead efforts to improve the system so that a fair market order can take root.”
In response, an official from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) stated, “The KTO is also continuously expanding its cooperation with domestic platforms.” The official added, “However, given the nature of overseas marketing—which requires efficiently utilizing limited budgets to maximize the number of inbound tourists—leveraging global OTAs, which offer high usage rates and accessibility among local consumers abroad, is an effective strategy for increasing the actual number of inbound tourists to Korea.” The official further emphasized, “Rather than simply allocating budgets by platform, it is necessary to formulate marketing strategies by comprehensively considering each channel’s characteristics, reach, and actual effectiveness in generating inbound tourists.”