Gyeonggi-do to Promote Clean Valley Tourism Revitalization Project

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is promoting a tourism revitalization project to attract more tourists to the cleanly restored valleys.

The province will first produce various promotional videos, including music video parodies, to introduce the pristine valleys in the region and prepare valley-linked stay-type tourism products featuring various experience and performance programs.

The music video parody "Prince of the Valley," which rewrote the lyrics of the song "Prince of the Sea" to invite people to visit the clean valleys in the Gyeonggi area this summer, has attracted attention with over 80,000 views since it was posted on YouTube last month.

The province will also produce valley promotional videos for the summer vacation and autumn foliage seasons.

Tourism products linking valleys and nearby tourist attractions will also be sold. The products include three one-day trip courses and three one-night, two-day trip courses. The province expects these products to help revitalize the local commercial districts.

Additionally, the province will operate three "Gyeonggi Tourism Promotion Centers" at Gapyeong Unak Valley (3rd to 4th week of July, 1st to 2nd week of August / 8 sessions), Yangju Jangheung Valley (3rd week of July / 2 sessions), and Pocheon Baegun Valley (4th week of July, 1st to 2nd week of August / 6 sessions), preparing family-friendly content such as valley treasure hunts, water cannon experiences, and magic shows.

Moreover, cultural tourism interpreters will be deployed on a trial basis to provide storytelling services related to the valleys.

A provincial official explained, "Due to COVID-19, tourists are expected to prefer domestic travel over overseas trips and favor clean travel destinations, so we decided to start the clean valley tourism revitalization project. After a pilot operation this year, we plan to diversify the programs further from next year and develop them into unique tourism content exclusive to Gyeonggi Province."

Since September last year, the province has been working on removing illegal facilities in valleys and rivers, identifying 1,482 illegal structures across 190 valleys and rivers in 25 cities and counties, with about 95% already dismantled.