South Korea’s Jeju Islands to introduce NFT tourism cards with perks

South Korea’s crypto-friendly Jeju Islands plans to make use of non-fungible tokens to draw Gen Z vacationers.

Based on native media, Maeil Kyungjae, the favored South Korean vacationer vacation spot, will introduce NFT-based digital vacationer playing cards for residents within the second half of 2025. The playing cards, powered by an unspecified blockchain, will reportedly provide vacationers unique advantages similar to journey subsidies, membership advantages and reductions at native sights.

Jeju Island has a wealthy historical past of embracing blockchain and cryptocurrency improvements to drive financial progress and set up itself as a web3 hub.

In 2019, the island launched the Blockchain Hub Metropolis Improvement Analysis Service, aiming to discover superior blockchain functions. By 2021, it had expanded its public sector initiatives in areas similar to visitors administration methods and VAT refunds for international vacationers.

In 2020, Jeju initiated efforts to develop into a global cashless metropolis by introducing Tamna Jeon, a regional digital foreign money, and expanded these efforts in 2024 with plans to combine cryptocurrencies similar to Bitcoin.

To enrich the initiatives, Tamna Jeon will probably be used for journey subsidies by the brand new vacationer card, in an effort to spice up native spending and assist financial exercise on Jeju Island.

In the meantime, vacationers utilizing the NFT-based vacationer card can doc their journey experiences, together with go to areas, time, photographs and movies, on the underlying blockchain.

Pilot tasks for the vacationer card are anticipated to start within the second half of 2025 earlier than full-scale implementation.

The event comes amid a broader push to undertake blockchain and cryptocurrencies throughout South Korea. The nation has been actively investing in blockchain know-how to enhance each the private and non-private sectors, complemented by a crypto-savvy inhabitants.

On February 29, 2024, web3 firm Dispread partnered with Ethereum Layer 2 Arbitrum to advertise the native blockchain developer ecosystem.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Science and ICT, along with the Korea Web & Safety Company, in June announced an funding of 20 billion received (about US$14.5 million) in blockchain assist tasks.

In 2023, Busan, South Korea’s second-largest metropolis, introduced plans to develop into a number one blockchain metropolis by growing a public blockchain community suitable with main platforms like Ethereum and Cosmos.