President Park Geun-hye says now is the time to improve the quality of South Korea's tourism sector.

Park on Friday held a meeting at the top office with her ministers and officials from the tourism industry and discussed ways to overhaul the competitiveness of the industry. 

While noting that the industry is a blend of a country’s culture, transportation, facilities and mature citizenship, she said that it is now time to focus on the quality of tourism.

She stressed on the job-creating impact of the sector that is one-and-a-half times greater than manufacturing and urged travel agencies and other related businesses to raise their competitiveness through creative ideas.
 
The president vowed to provide financial support to tourism firms by improving loan systems and establishing a creative tourism fund. She also promised to continuously ease regulations and improve related systems.