Near Travel Korea – Private Test Now Available

I am currently preparing the English version of my Korean travel app, 근처여행어때, under the name Near Travel Korea.

Near Travel Korea is a travel information app designed to help foreign visitors and English-speaking users discover useful places around them while traveling in Korea.

The app is now available through Google Play private testing before its official release.

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What is Near Travel Korea?

Near Travel Korea is a location-based travel guide app for Korea.

It helps users search for nearby travel spots, gardens, nature places, food, cafes, stays, festivals, and local events based on their current location or a selected area.

The idea behind the app is simple.

Good trips can start nearby.

You do not always need to travel far to find a beautiful place, a quiet garden, a local festival, a good cafe, or a nice place to stay.

Near Travel Korea was created to make those nearby places easier to find.

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Main Features

Near Travel Korea includes several useful tabs for travelers.

Nearby

The Nearby tab helps users find travel spots around their current location or around a selected place.

Users can search by GPS location or enter a city, region, or landmark in Korea.

For example:

Seoul
Busan
Jeju
Gyeongju
Haeundae
Changwon

The app then searches for nearby travel information within a certain distance.

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Nature

The Nature tab focuses on gardens, parks, forests, arboretums, wetlands, trails, and other nature-related places.

Korea has many beautiful gardens and peaceful nature spots that may not always be easy to find through general travel search.

This feature is useful for travelers who want to enjoy quiet places, walking paths, parks, or scenic outdoor locations.

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Food

The Food tab helps users find nearby restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, bakeries, and local food places.

Food is one of the most important parts of travel.

Since some local restaurants and cafes in Korea are registered with Korean names, the app may display both English and Korean place names when available.

This can be useful when searching on maps or visiting the actual location.

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Stay

The Stay tab helps users search for nearby accommodation.

It can show hotels, guesthouses, pensions, resorts, hostels, and other stay-related information.

This feature is useful when users want to quickly check accommodation options near a travel destination.

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Events

The Events tab allows users to search for festivals and local events by region, year, and month.

If a user selects a specific region, the app shows events only for that selected region.

For example:

Busan
Jeju
Seoul
Gyeongnam
Gangwon

If users want to search nationwide, they can select All Korea.

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English and Korean Place Names

Near Travel Korea is an English app, but Korean place names are also important when traveling in Korea.

For that reason, the app may display place names in the following format when both English and Korean names are available:

Changwon Marine Park (창원해양공원)
Jeju (제주)
Busan (부산)
Food & Cafe (맛집/카페)
Stay (숙박)
Festival/Event (축제/행사)

This makes the app easier to use for foreign visitors while still keeping the local Korean names that are useful for map search, navigation, and actual visits.

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Data Source

Near Travel Korea uses public tourism data provided through the Korea Tourism Organization TourAPI.

The English version mainly uses:

Korea Tourism Organization English Tourism Information Service
EngService2

However, some local information such as food, cafes, stays, and smaller travel spots may be limited in the English data.

To provide more useful results, the app also uses Korean tourism data as a fallback when necessary.

Main API: EngService2
Fallback API: KorService2

The app merges the results, removes duplicates, and displays useful information for travelers.

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Development

Near Travel Korea was developed using C# and .NET MAUI.

The current version is focused on Android and is being tested through Google Play private testing.

Development overview:

Language: C#
Framework: .NET MAUI
Platform: Android
Data: Korea Tourism Organization TourAPI
Server/DB: Not used
Map: External map app connection

The app does not use a separate server or database.
It directly calls public tourism APIs and displays the results in the app.

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Private Test Installation

Near Travel Korea is currently in private testing on Google Play.

Private test link:

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.eplus.eneartravel

Only registered Google accounts can install the private test version.

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How to Join the Private Test

If you would like to participate in the private test, please send your Google account email address to:

posbar@kakao.com

After your Google account is registered as a tester, you can install the app using the private test link.

Installation steps:

1. Send your Google account email to posbar@kakao.com
2. Wait until your account is registered as a tester
3. Open the private test link
   https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.eplus.eneartravel
4. Join the test on Google Play
5. Install Near Travel Korea
6. Try Nearby, Nature, Food, Stay, and Events features

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What to Check During Testing

If you install the test version, please check the following features:

- Nearby search by current location
- Search by city, region, or place name
- Nature search
- Food and cafe search
- Stay and accommodation search
- Events search by selected region
- Detail view
- External map app connection
- Location permission handling
- Network error handling

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please send feedback with a screenshot if possible.

Your feedback will be very helpful before the official release.

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Final Thoughts

Near Travel Korea was created to help people discover useful travel information around them in Korea.

Korea has many beautiful places, peaceful gardens, local food spots, cafes, stays, and festivals.

Sometimes the best trip begins not far away, but nearby.

Near Travel Korea helps you start your trip from nearby places.

Small technology can make everyday life better.