A Study on Economic Effects of Improving Digital Map Service Regulations - Focusing on the Case of Google Maps in Korea -

Digital map tourism is becoming more widespread after the COVID pandemic. There are domestic map apps in Korea, but they are developed as domestic-only apps and have low global recognition. In order to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2027, it is necessary to actively utilize global map apps such as Google Maps to attract foreign tourists. According to the estimated results of this study, if geographic data is exported overseas and various services, multilingual support, and offline map services of Google Maps are provided, economic effects such as an influx of foreign tourists (6.8 million), tourism income (USD 22.6 billion), job creation (8,000 people), and added value creation (KRW 3.9 trillion) can be expected by 2027. Google Maps will also contribute to fostering export industries by supporting the overseas expansion of location-based tech companies. In order to strengthen the international competitiveness of various map-based businesses and innovative products (autonomous vehicles, urban air mobility, etc.), the Korean government needs to boldly change its data localization policy.. It is time to proactively review the overseas export of geographic data to secure future growth engines.