Even Mobility-Impaired People Enjoy Canoeing... First Dock Completed at Uiamho Lake, Chuncheon

Ministry of Culture and Tourism Organization, Completion Ceremony of Barrier-Free Open Tourism Site Development Project

From the second on the right) Park Young-rim, Vice Chairman of the Chuncheon City Disabled Welfare Committee, Ahn Young-bae, President of the Korea Tourism Organization, Choi Bo-geun, Director of the Tourism Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Lee Jae-su, Mayor of Chuncheon City, are test-riding at the King Canoe dock completion ceremony.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] A facility where mobility-impaired individuals, including people with disabilities, can also enjoy canoeing is opening for the first time nationwide in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization held a completion ceremony for the 'King Canoe Dock' at Uiamho Lake in Chuncheon, a facility designed for easy access by mobility-impaired individuals such as people with disabilities, infants, and the elderly.

Uiamho King Canoe was selected in the 2019 Open Tourism Site contest. From January to October this year, Chuncheon City improved barrier-free routes and facilities considering user mobility, including installing ramps at the dock entrance, tactile and audio guide signs, and newly manufactured canoes that can accommodate wheelchairs (4-person seating).

The Open Tourism Site project aims to create a barrier-free tourism environment ecosystem by removing physical barriers through facility renovations such as walkways, accessible restrooms, and Braille markings, as well as improving barrier-free guidance systems and human service environments. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been leading and implementing this project since 2015, currently selecting or developing 92 tourist sites nationwide.

Kim Seok, head of the Tourism Welfare Center at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "We will focus on developing various content, including barrier-free travel courses, to enable more people to use the already established open tourism sites."