LG HelloVision said on May 11 it signed an agreement with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Wando County to build a cooperation model for experiential tourism linked to the Hometown Love Donation scheme.

The cooperation is part of the ministry's programme to support self-sustaining growth in regions with declining populations. The goal is to combine Wando's local resources with LG HelloVision's local media capabilities to turn outside visitors into a resident population.

The focus is developing experiential return gifts. While existing return gifts under the Hometown Love Donation scheme have centred on raw products such as agricultural and marine goods, the partnership will shift to experiences that encourage local visits. Donors to Wando County will receive items such as accommodation vouchers for the Myeongsasip-ri campsite or experience passes for a marine healing centre, with the strategy aimed at creating a structure in which donations lead to consumption and stays.

LG HelloVision will use its local channels to promote Wando's tourism resources nationwide. AI-based advertising was broadcast nationwide more than 330 times through local channels for about a month from last month.

As the first outcome of the cooperation, an experiential event was held on May 2 at Myeongsasip-ri beach in connection with the "Marine Healing Wando National Barefoot Walking Festival". On-site operations were carried out in cooperation with a youth village fostered by the ministry.

Vice Interior Minister Kim Min-jae (김민재) said he hopes the cooperation will serve as an opportunity to bring people back to Wando and inject vitality into the region, adding that the government will continue win-win cooperation among the government, businesses and local communities. Kim Ji-hoon (김지훈), head of business at LG HelloVision, said he will be a partner that is first and longest together so that the region's unique value can become South Korea's future competitiveness.