Gwangju City Implements Revitalization Policies for the Era of 10 Million Tourists

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 18th that it will promote various tourism revitalization policies to usher in the era of 10 million tourists in 2020.

First, the city will operate the visiting ‘Gwangju Marketing Youth Truck’ to promote the Gwangju 7 Delicacies such as jumeokbap (rice balls) and lettuce fritters, as well as major local tourist attractions nationwide. In addition, the Omae Gwangju character will be launched as various products such as souvenirs through a public contest.

Visitors can reflect on the meaning of May 18 through performances by actors on the ‘May Bus’, take a modern time travel tour of Gwangju including Yangnim-dong on the ‘100 Years Bus’, and ride a revamped circular city tour route that covers major local tourist spots all at once.

Moreover, day-trip and 1-night 2-day packages linking KTX, Namdo Pass, and city tours will be developed to offer convenient tourism products for visitors from the metropolitan area.

In April, the Namdo Tourism Center will open to provide integrated tourism services along with the existing eight tourist information centers, and 63 official cultural tourism interpreters of Gwangju will offer interpretation services.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of May 18 this year, in collaboration with the National Asia Culture Center, opportunities will be provided to directly experience historical sites by visiting representative local tourist attractions such as the National Asia Culture Center, the former Jeonnam Provincial Office, and the May 18 National Cemetery.

In the second half of the year, efforts will focus on attracting overseas tourists, which have slowed due to the impact of COVID-19.

To this end, Gwangju City will jointly participate with Jeonnam Province and Jeonbuk Province in Southeast Asian expos such as in Malaysia to introduce local tourism resources, and will intensively promote overseas tourism marketing including tourism briefings in Japan, Gumi, and Arab countries.

In particular, targeting individual travelers from the Greater China region, where tourism demand is high, Gwangju will produce a travel guidebook for the first time in the region together with a famous Hong Kong broadcaster, and promote Gwangju’s cultural products such as Yehyang, Uihyang, and Mihyang through broadcasts and other media.

Relatedly, in July this year, about 1,500 Chinese youths, teachers, and parents are scheduled to visit Gwangju to participate in the Chungjang-ro parade, K-pop dance, Korean traditional dance experiences, and Korea-China exchange activities.

Starting from September, when the Gwangju Biennale is held, special city tour routes and kimchi-making experience programs will be operated to encourage out-of-town visitors to stay longer in Gwangju.

Kim Jun-young, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Office of Gwangju City, said, “This year, we will foster related industries by linking experiential activities such as kimchi making with tourist attractions, and create a tourism Gwangju where visitors can stay and enjoy themselves. We will prepare and present various programs so that people nationwide will visit Gwangju to enjoy the diverse sights and foods such as the Gwangju 7 Delicacies, Gwangju Biennale, Fringe Festival, and Mudeungsan Mountain.”