The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST), together with Korea Tourism Organization (CEO KIM Jang Sil, KTO) hosted Korea Tourist Souvenir Fair 2022. Held in Art Hall I of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) from December 2 (Fri) to December 3 (Sat),  the two-day event aimed at promoting popular souvenirs from around the nation and supporting their distribution and retail channels.

Launched in 1998 as Korea Tourist Souvenir Competition, this year’s event was held as an exhibition for the first time ever. Under the theme “Korea Presents You Tours,” it offered diverse programs, including souvenir exhibitions and sales, business meetings, public-private cooperative project achievement presentations, and souvenir-themed talk shows, to encourage lively exchanges between those in the tourism industry and the audience.

This year, the Fair showcased an eye-catching range of souvenirs from various companies and local governments. In particular, some 100 companies from different regions and industries exhibited and sold their souvenir products, such as craftworks, food, everyday goods, stationary and character items, and beauty and fashion items, meeting and connecting with the audience in person. The Fair also brought together the souvenir items that were selected as outstanding culture products by Korea Craft & Design Foundation and those that won Seoul Excellent Souvenir Competition and Busan Souvenir Contest. In addition, it featured a presentation entitled “From Cooperation to Award-Winning Souvenirs,” which shared the journey and secrets of creating award-winning souvenir items from cooperation between private-sector businesses.  

During the event, business meetings were held to support sales channels and foster collaboration within the souvenir industry. These meetings drew not only the nation’s large retailers, including Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, Shinsegae Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free, Hyundai Home Shopping Network Corporation, MUJI, and Backpakr Inc. (Idus), but also various other distributors and purchasing agents like Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, National Museum Cultural Foundation, and Korea Craft & Design Foundation.

Furthermore, the Fair offered special DIY sessions where audience members could make the souvenir of their choice. It featured a space where they could try out DIY kits and the award-winning souvenirs as well as a craft workshop. The workshop offered the audience an opportunity to create craft items themed on the landmarks of Seoul under the guidance of students from the Department of Metal Crafts at Seoul National University. It presented souvenir-theme talk shows, autograph events with actress JUNG Da Eun and author ZiBEZI, and other entertaining activities, such as character finding from the Procession to the Lotte World art wall created through collaboration between Lotte World and artist KIM Seon.   

On the opening day of the event, December 2, Korea Tourism Contest 2022 (in the fields of souvenirs and photographs) held its award ceremony. This year, it honored a total of 23 teams, whose works were all displayed at the exhibition. For the safety of all the participants in every aspect of the event, the organizing committee placed a rigorous focus on maintaining the appropriate level of crowd density in the exhibition spaces, improving signage for the route of movement and evacuation, assigning first responders, training safety personnel, establishing an emergency response plan, operating an emergency command center, and planning other safety measures.