[Courtesy of KT]
According to data released by South Korea's statistics office, the number of campers skyrocketed to 6.8 million in 2020 from 5.3 million in 2019. The national statistics office predicts that the number of campers surpassed 7 million as of 2021. In 2020, 33.1 percent of campers were in their 30s. Those in their 40s accounted for 28.7 percent, followed by people aged 19 to 29 who accounted for 18.3 percent.
KT said in a statement that the company will popularize robot services at campsites through collaboration with Camping Talk, a campsite reservation platform operator with 450 partners nationwide, and Camping Outdoor, a company specializing in glamping, also known as luxury camping. Unlike conventional camping, glamping operators provide necessary items such as tents and furniture so that consumers can enjoy resort-style camping.
"We hope that the outdoor autonomous robot service created through the cooperation of three companies will become a starting point and create a new market in the domestic robot industry," KT's AI robot business group head Lee Sang-ho said in a statement on March 14.
In February 2023, KT showcased an autonomous delivery robot capable of controlling temperature and humidity while delivering food products at Mobile World Congress, an annual mobile device exhibition in Barcelona. The robot, which incorporated a cold chain function, maintains the fresh features of food items.
South Korea's robot industry which stood at five trillion won ($3.8 billion) in 2020 is growing at an average annual growth rate of 3.6 percent. Robots are currently used in many different fields including restaurant services, elderly care, and surveillance. In February 2023, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would nurture the logistics sector to establish a same-day nationwide robot delivery infrastructure.
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