Just 58 Days After Opening, Strong Box Office Performance Thanks to Solid Content
Suncheon Mayor Nogwan-gyu Proposes "Gardencance" Vacation Culture
The Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo surpassed 4 million visitors at 12:28 PM on the 28th, just 58 days after its opening, achieving 50% of its target of 8 million visitors.
This pace is about three times faster compared to the 2013 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo, which took 176 days to exceed 4 million visitors.
Gardens with distinctiveness and completeness, especially the contents called ‘Big change 10’ of the 2023 Garden Expo, are undoubtedly considered the main drivers of this expo’s success.
Among them, Ocheon Green Square serves as a cultural space where various cultural performances such as YB Band concerts and magician Choi Hyun-woo’s magic shows are held, and it has established itself as a garden in daily life where citizens can enjoy rest, fostering a new plaza culture in Korea.
Along with this, Green Island, Garden Stay-Shillange, Garden Dreamho, and Garden on Water are gardens that Suncheon has attempted and created for the first time in Korea. The newly created contents that turned the entire city into a garden are evaluated as sufficient to attract the footsteps of the entire nation.
Additionally, the construction of an intelligent transportation system incorporating advanced technology enabled comfortable viewing without traffic chaos even on weekends when visitors are concentrated, which is also one of the factors contributing to the expo’s success.
The high level of civic consciousness cannot be overlooked either.
Citizens voluntarily participate in the odd-even vehicle restriction system, and traffic police, exemplary drivers, and volunteers are working hard on-site to direct traffic and guide parking for smooth traffic flow. The expo’s success shines even more because of the dignified citizens who participated together.
The economic effects of the expo also deserve attention. As of the 27th, the expo’s own sales exceeded 23.5 billion KRW. Among them, ticket sales accounted for the largest portion with 15.8 billion KRW, and food and beverage facilities such as restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores recorded sales of over 4.8 billion KRW. Additionally, through the operation of the Ferris wheel, Sky Cube, Garden Dreamho, and Garden Stay, 2.9 billion KRW in revenue was generated.
Merchants around the expo site reported the positive ripple effects of the expo, saying, “The number of customers has increased so much that we can immediately feel the expo’s effect,” and “There have been cases where materials ran out early, causing early closing.” Suncheon City has commissioned a professional institution to conduct a more detailed economic impact analysis.
Following this expo’s booming success, more than 170 local governments, institutions, organizations, research institutes, and councils nationwide have visited for benchmarking, making the 2023 Garden Expo a standard model for cities in the Republic of Korea.
The organizing committee is putting all efforts into preparing the ‘Summer Garden’ for the upcoming summer season. Mayor Noh Kwan-gyu of Suncheon said, “Until now, we have generally thought of summer vacations only as valleys or the sea. In fact, the most luxurious resort is a garden. We will show you an excellent garden as a vacation spot that has never existed before,” and added, “This summer, do not hesitate and come to the Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo. We will gift you a ‘Gardencance,’ a high-quality vacation enjoyed in the garden.”
For visitors seeking gardens as summer vacation spots, the organizing committee plans to offer a cool garden experience with ‘Winter in Summer,’ ‘Glacier Garden,’ ‘Water Play in the Garden,’ ‘Stream Path Plaza’ that evokes old memories with the sound of flowing streams, ‘Garden Dreamho’ crossing the river to enjoy the garden, and fountains and streams spread throughout the garden.
Meanwhile, the Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo will extend its opening hours by one hour during the summer season from June to August, operating from 9 AM to 10 PM.
Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr
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