Leading Tourism Trends, Building Sustainable Brands
Realizing Global Tourist Cities such as Baegunsan, Gubongsan, and Seomjingang
Gwangyang Tourism, which is making every effort to lead rapidly changing tourism trends and open an era of ten million tourists with the tourism slogan "Gwangyang Trip Shining Day and Night," is gaining new attention.
On the 2nd, Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do announced that it was honored to be finally selected in the "City Good for Travel" category of the Brand Management Award at the "2023 TV Chosun Management Awards" held at The Plaza Hotel Seoul Grand Ballroom Hall.
The Management Award, sponsored by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, is given to local governments and institutions that present new standards for Korea through creative innovation and challenges, selected through strict evaluation by a judging committee composed of industry, academia, and research.
The Brand Management Award "City Good for Travel" received this time is highly meaningful as Gwangyang City, aiming to be a global tourist city, has built a strong and sustainable tourism brand in an era requiring change and responsibility such as post-COVID-19, digital transformation, and ESG.
Gwangyang City plans to differentiate content by establishing Baegunsan, Gubongsan, and Seomjingang as three major tourism hubs as the core driving force of the 8th elected administration, leapfrogging as a central tourist destination in the southern coast and southern central region, and soaring as a global tourist city attracting ten million tourists.
The Baegunsan area will be developed into an ecological and historical space flowing with the spirit of a thousand years of roof tiles, linking tangible and intangible specialized materials scattered around such as Okryongsa Temple Site, Camellia Forest, Seongak Guksa Doseon, and Southern Academic Forest, as well as a wellness and healing space.
The Gubongsan area will be developed into a mountain-type comprehensive tourism and leisure resort attracting global attention by investing a total of 615.5 billion KRW in projects including Gwangyang Gubongsan Tourism Complex, family-oriented children’s theme park, POSCO Gwangyang Landmark Project, and the world’s longest Golden Suspension Bridge 770.
In the Mangdeok Port area of Seomjingang, a total of 161.7 billion KRW worth of ten public projects are being vigorously promoted, including the Jeonnam-type regional growth strategy project "Yoon Dong-ju’s Starlight Island Shining in Seomjingang," the southern region wide-area tourism development plan "Artcation Tourism Stay," and the Namdo specialized landscape creation project "Starlight Ferry Embracing Seomjingang."
The city is determined to realize a global tourist city that citizens can enjoy in their daily lives and that attracts worldwide attention by steadily promoting various linked projects to establish a stay-type tourism belt that integrates nature, humanities, stay, and food.
At the award ceremony, Mayor Jeong In-hwa of Gwangyang said, "Gwangyang tourism satisfies all five senses with beautiful natural scenery, shining night views, high-quality cultural spaces, and distinctive food based on the natural resources of Baegunsan, Seomjingang, and Gwangyang Bay, drawing empathy and popularity from tourists of all generations."
He added, "Under the three principles of best, largest, and most, we will leap forward as a sustainable global tourist city attracting ten million tourists with differentiated tourism content centered on the three zones of Baegunsan, Gubongsan, and Seomjingang that cannot be seen anywhere else but in Gwangyang."
Meanwhile, Gwangyang City has been steadily gaining attention as a promising tourist city, having been selected for two consecutive years in January by the global travel booking platform Booking.com as one of the "Top 10 Domestic Popular Travel Destinations to Watch in 2023."
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