Naju City in Jeollanam-do has launched the ‘5 Million Tourism Era Committee’ aiming to realize the 8th term municipal administration policy of ‘Prospering Cultural Tourism’ and the New Year vision declared this year for the arrival of the era of 5 million tourists in Naju.
According to the city on the 11th, the committee is composed of 13 experts who possess a wide range of successful cases and reputations in tourism content such as gourmet food, leisure, rural tourism, travel, tourism planning, academic research, and art tourism.
In the city, Deputy Mayor Kang Young-gu and Director of Tourism, Culture and Environment Bureau Lee Chun-hyung participated ex officio.
The city plans for the committee to serve as a think tank for Naju tourism development by collecting opinions and holding discussions to discover new food, sights, and entertainment in line with the promotion of the ‘Year of Visit Naju 2025.’
During the Yeongsanpo Skatefish Festival on the 5th and 6th, the committee toured the festival site and major tourist attractions as well as sites of current projects over two days.
Over the two days, they visited Naju Moksa Naea (Naju Magistrate’s Residence), Natural Dyeing Museum, Bokeumri Burial Mound Exhibition Hall, Bulhoe Temple, Nampyeong Station, Gwangchon Branch School, former Hwanam Industry, Naju Rice Mill, and Naju Navillera Culture Center.
After the tour, through a comprehensive discussion, they diagnosed the overall issues of Naju tourism and shared and proposed mutual opinions on improvement measures.
The committee members unanimously stated, “The goal of the committee’s activities will be to establish a unique and differentiated tourism brand for Naju by selecting tourism attraction targets according to changes in resources, consumption, and trends.”
They added, “Compared to other local governments, it is necessary to develop diverse promotional marketing for the activation of idle facilities, visitor events that can bring re-visits and promotional effects, and various content that can lead to participation and consumption beyond just sightseeing.”
The committee members prioritized proposals such as ‘changing existing festivals that lack distinctiveness,’ ‘food tourism targeting the MZ generation,’ ‘discovering diversity in existing foods like beef soup and skate,’ ‘creating year-round landscapes for middle-aged and elderly groups,’ ‘developing healing products such as rural tourism for urban residents,’ and ‘tourism commercialization of local agricultural specialties in line with consumer trends’ as consumer-centered tourism strategies.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “I thank the top domestic experts who participated in the committee aiming to promote the Year of Visit Naju 2025 and achieve the era of 5 million tourists. I look forward to the committee’s active advice and activities for developing differentiated tourism content such as discovering representative festivals and gourmet food of Naju, linking individual tourist sites into the number one destination for history, culture, and ecology tourism, and revitalizing stay-type and night tourism.”
Naju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yuk-bong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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