Seoul City Seeks to Reduce Crowd Risks and Revitalize Tourist Districts with Sharp Sales Decline Due to COVID-19
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Foundation announced on the 30th that the annual 'Seoul Lantern Festival,' which has been held at Cheonggyecheon, will be held this year in four special tourism zones in Seoul: Itaewon, Jamsil, Dongdaemun, and Myeongdong.
The purpose is to light lanterns reflecting the unique characteristics of each area, which were hit hard by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), to revitalize the fading commercial districts of the special zones and to safely deliver a message of hope to citizens exhausted by COVID-19.
The Seoul Lantern Festival has established itself as Seoul's representative winter festival, attracting more than 2.5 million visitors annually to Cheonggyecheon for 11 years since 2009. However, as a large-scale event attracting crowds, it faced cancellation this year due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government considered dispersing the event locations and decided to proceed as part of supporting the 'Seoul Tourism Special Zone Recovery Project' to help the depressed tourism special zones.
The event titled '2020 Light Lanterns of Hope with Seoul Tourism Special Zones' will fully utilize the festival's signature hanji (traditional Korean paper) lanterns, maintaining their unique identity while incorporating the distinct characteristics of each of the four tourism special zones. These will be displayed in the form of photo zones and sky lighting along major streets. Starting with the Jamsil tourism special zone on the 30th, the festival will continue for a total of 78 days in Itaewon, Dongdaemun, and Myeongdong.
The Jamsil tourism special zone festival, held until the 6th of next month, will allow visitors to enjoy the autumn atmosphere by installing hanji-made maple and ginkgo leaves in the air along the walking paths, in conjunction with the 'Maple & Fallen Leaves Festival' held by Songpa-gu. In the Itaewon tourism special zone (November 4 to December 31), visitors can meet characters from the popular webtoon 'Itaewon Class' (Park Saeroyi and Jo Yi-seo) recreated as traditional hanji artworks.
In Dongdaemun (November 6 to 15), exhibitions themed around shopping and Heunginjimun Gate will be held in front of Doota Mall, and in Myeongdong (November 13 to January 15, 2021), photo zones featuring a large Christmas tree and characters inspired by Singapore's iconic mythical creature Merlion will be installed in front of the Myeongdong Art Theater, providing visual attractions.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will install 'Hope Moons' sculptures carrying messages of overcoming COVID-19 in all special zones and conduct online events to spread messages of hope to citizens.
To prevent the spread of infectious diseases due to crowding, 53 on-site quarantine personnel will be secured and distributed by special zone and exhibition location, with quarantine officers designated to establish a systematic quarantine system. Quarantine equipment such as mobile spray disinfectors and thermal imaging thermometers will be provided, along with hand sanitizers and masks.
Joo Yong-tae, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, "This year, the Seoul Lantern Festival approaches citizens with a new name, 'Light Lanterns of Hope,' for the first time in 12 years, to support the commercial districts of Seoul's tourism special zones severely affected by COVID-19. We hope that citizens exhausted by COVID-19 will find comfort and that the depressed commercial districts of the tourism special zones will overcome this difficult time well."
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