"Culture gift certificate is a major driving force of the culture industry. The vital infrastructure has propelled the growth of the market, leading people to spend more on movies, theaters and other cultural activities." Kim Joon-mook (47), CEO of Korea Culture Promotion, a firm providing culture gift certificates, emphasized that the gift certificate is cultural infrastructure stimulating spending in the market.
The culture voucher, which made its debut in 1998, is now in wide circulation. It became the first certificate to reach the 5,000 mark as of June 17, opening the `one culture voucher for every Korean` era.
According to Kim, the certificate is like a highway that expedites transactions of goods. It facilitates transactions in the culture area, helping businesses boost their bottom lines. The denominated bond is used to make payments for movies, records, books etc. In fact, 5% of movie tickets and 2 to 3% of book purchasing are paid by culture certificates.
Kim, who headed Miraesa (current Mirae M&B), a publishing company providing social science books, has had interest in culture certificates for more than 10 years. In 1988, his plan was hit hard as the government decided to stop sales of certificates as a part of spending-curbing policy. Issuing certificates became legal in 1990, but the business license was granted to Doosan Group.
It was 1997 that he finally formed a committee to launch a culture certificate business. Korea Culture Promotion is a consortium comprising 29 organizations in the culture industry such as the Korea Cinema Business Association, the Korea Theater Drama Association, the Korea Video and Record Association, Woongjin Media, Jigoo Record and Hakjun. Since its launch in 1997, it has been leading the growth of industry.
Although his plan had to be delayed, he proved right. The culture certificate business has grown rapidly. 2.1 million vouchers (worth 10.5 billion won) were sold in the first year in 1998, 7.6 million copies (38 billion won) in 1999, 13.3 millions (66.5 billion won) in 2000 and 17 millions (85 billion won) in 2001. This year, the number is forecast to reach 10 millions, up 30% year-on-year. Then, the total sales will reach 250 billion won.
"The entertainment and gift markets are worth around 20 trillion won. We will be able to create a huge market by attracting a just portion of the entire pie." Kim has recently opened a culture life portal `Culture Land (http://www.cultureland.co.kr),` and continued to put spurs to his business.