Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Budget Reflects 291.4 Billion KRW
[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] A foundation has been laid for development projects that will lead the "Tourism Capital Jeonnam" in the Pan-Pacific era.
Jeonnam Province announced on the 27th that 291.4 billion KRW in tourism development project funds have been reflected in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's basic plan for southern region tourism development projects.
Since May last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been promoting a basic plan for the southern region tourism development project, a large-scale tourism development project covering five cities and provinces nationwide?Jeonnam, Gwangju, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam?divided into three zones.
Over ten years, approximately 685.8 billion KRW will be invested to focus on establishing core brands for each zone and discovering linked cooperative projects.
Among the three metropolitan tourism zones, the South Central Zone, which includes Jeonnam and Gyeongnam, aims to establish a "Korean-style wellness tourism hub."
With an investment of 193.3 billion KRW, it will promote ▲ development of wellness tourism bases specialized in healing content offered by the sea and islands ▲ branding of healing travel in the Seomjin River area and expansion of stay tourism infrastructure ▲ discovery and cultivation of small-scale tourist sites.
The Southwest Zone, which includes Jeonnam and Gwangju, aims to build the "Namdo Cultural and Arts Zone."
With 188.3 billion KRW, it will undertake ▲ the Dadohae Together Island Project (to revitalize island tourism) ▲ fostering Namdo Dalbam art travel destinations ▲ discovering and creating representative pilgrimage tourism and scenic spots in Dadohae.
The Southeast Zone, including Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, aims to establish an "Entertainment Resort Zone" with an investment of 202.9 billion KRW. Additionally, about 101.3 billion KRW will be invested in common projects across the southern region, such as ▲ development of a smart tourism transfer system ▲ development of tourism products linked to ship and aviation industries ▲ commercialization of linear tourism resources.
Jeonnam’s beautiful resources including coasts, inland areas, and islands are expected to be developed into world-class tourist attractions, creating sustainable tourism demand as destinations people want to visit and stay.
The economic ripple effects are estimated at 505.2 billion KRW in production inducement, 176.7 billion KRW in added value inducement, and 5,521 jobs created.
Jeonnam Province has continuously proposed to ministries and the National Assembly, highlighting the regional characteristics by discovering its own projects and emphasizing the large-scale Yeongnam-Honam project to reflect the southern region tourism development project in the national plan for the Jeonnam area wide tourism development project linked with the South Coast New Growth Tourism Belt project and marine-inland tourism.
As a result, the Southwest and South Central Zone projects including Jeonnam were reflected in this basic plan, and the project budget was increased.
In particular, with the completion of the basic plan this year, Jeonnam Province proactively proposed to promptly proceed with establishing a master plan to specify the project, resulting in 1.5 billion KRW being included in the government budget for the master plan establishment service fee.
Since the detailed investment scale and development directions for each project will be finalized during the master plan establishment in 2022 for full-scale project implementation in 2023, Jeonnam Province plans to make thorough preparations to ensure that its projects are included and expanded in the master plan.
Kim Young-shin, Director of Tourism, Culture and Sports Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, "The South Coast is the center of the new national land development axis in terms of national balanced development, so the province will take the lead in southern region tourism development." He added, "With the reflection in the national plan, we will accelerate the development projects utilizing tourism resources and make it a catalyst for creating 'Jeonnam, the new marine, cultural tourism, and eco-friendly capital in the Pan-Pacific era.'"
Meanwhile, the "7th Jeonnam Region Tourism Development Plan," which will serve as a roadmap for Jeonnam Province's tourism development over the next five years starting next year, completed its final report meeting in November. After consultations with related ministries, it is scheduled to be announced in January 2022.
The plan includes an investment plan of about 2.9003 trillion KRW for expanding tourism infrastructure and developing tourism resources through existing tourist sites, new tourist complexes, and strategic project promotion.
Jeonnam Province plans to establish a foundation for stay-type tourism hubs by linking the national southern region tourism development project with the provincial wide-area plan and utilizing Jeonnam’s unique specialized tourism resources such as marine, ecological, and cultural assets with differentiated strategies.
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