Naju City Launches 'Naju Bapsang Branding'... Discovering and Fostering Signature Restaurants

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City in Jeollanam-do is embarking on a full-scale project to brand ‘Naju Bapsang’ (tentative name) to systematically preserve local food resources and develop food tourism attractions.

According to the city on the 25th, the ‘Naju Bapsang Branding’ project is a pledge of the 8th local government administration aimed at revitalizing the local economy by preserving the legacy of Naju’s traditional local cuisine passed down through generations and fostering distinctive Naju-style meals as food tourism resources.

As the first step of the project, the city will conduct a consumer perception survey to establish a plan for designating ‘representative (Naju Bapsang designated) restaurants.’

This survey, conducted from the 24th of last month to the 6th of next month over two weeks, is part of collecting basic data for designating regional representative restaurants.

The questionnaire consists of 15 items across three sections: ‘Perception survey on Naju restaurants’ (6 questions), ‘Consumer perception survey on designation of Naju representative restaurants’ (9 questions), and ‘Consumer suggestions.’

The perception survey on Naju restaurants asks about ‘restaurants worth visiting,’ ‘preferred restaurants,’ ‘representative Naju dishes,’ ‘criteria for selecting dining-out restaurants,’ ‘methods of gathering restaurant information,’ and ‘restaurant improvement suggestions.’

The consumer perception survey on representative restaurant designation covers topics such as ‘priority when designating representative restaurants,’ ‘preferred dishes at representative restaurants,’ ‘appropriate meal price per person,’ ‘improvements for designating representative restaurants,’ and ‘the most delicious restaurants and menus evaluated within Naju city.’

Participation is possible by scanning the QR code (photo) to fill out and submit the online survey.

The QR code can also be scanned via the city hall website popup window, and on the second day of the survey, the number of participants has already surpassed 800.

Through the organizational restructuring of the 8th local government, the city established the dedicated ‘Naju Food Culture Team’ (under the Food Planning Division), taking the first step toward revitalizing the local economy through the tourism resource development of local cuisine.

The Naju Food Culture Team plans to focus on detailed projects in stages of the Naju Bapsang branding, including ‘development of the Naju Bapsang representative restaurant brand,’ ‘selection and environmental improvement of Naju representative restaurants,’ ‘discovery and operation of local cuisine transmission and experience programs,’ ‘training of food culture storytellers,’ and ‘content creation for local gourmet travel.’

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Through the branding of Naju’s unique table that blends tradition and modernity, we will discover and nurture regional representative restaurants and attract tourists who travel nationwide in search of flavors to Naju, thereby promoting local economic revitalization.”

Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr