Gumi-si Begins Spectacular Transformation into a 'Kkuljaem City'

Gumi Ramen Festival Emerges as a Leading Regional Festival

Gyocheon 1st Branch Becomes a Landmark with Differentiated Tourism Strategy

Development of 'Gumi Tourism Goods' ... Boosting Tourism Brand

Gumi City in Gyeongbuk established the Romance Festival Division at the beginning of 2023 to foster a representative local festival with romance and dignity and to discover differentiated tourism content. The city is transforming into a romantic cultural city where everyday life becomes happiness by infusing fun and joy into festivals and tourism.

From being a “boring city without festivals” and an “industrial city with only industrial complexes and companies,” Gumi successfully concluded the “2023 Gumi Ramyeon Festival,” which features a clear and unique festival content loved by all generations, accelerating the development of its representative festival.

The “Industrial Heritage Tour with Stories,” which develops Gumi’s industrial modernization resources into tourism products, launched in June and has received great responses. Starting next year, the “Gyochon 1st Branch Tourism Landmark Project” will be linked with the Industrial Heritage Tour to further strengthen region-specific tourism content.

Collaborating with local artists and small business owners, the city is actively promoting the development of souvenirs using characters tailored to the region and operating tourism souvenir shops, aiming to develop “Gumi-only tourism goods” that achieve both regional coexistence and brand value.

◆ Gumi Ramyeon Festival Rises as a Representative Local Festival

2023 Gumi Ramen Festival.

Marking its second year, the Gumi Ramyeon Festival was planned as the region’s first urban-type festival and held for three days from November 17 to 19 around Gumi Station. With quantitatively and qualitatively expanded diverse programs, experience promotion zones, and a unique ramyeon food zone compared to last year, about 80,000 tourists visited.

▲ The nation’s first festival featuring ramyeon as its theme with original content ▲ Contribution to revitalizing the old downtown economy ▲ A safe festival with no accidents ▲ An eco-friendly festival ▲ Establishment of a standard model for integrated festival and event linkage?all received positive evaluations across all areas.

Notably, this festival was the first to utilize telecommunications big data to analyze floating population and consumption, showing ▲ a 433% increase in visitors compared to last year (15,000 → 80,000) ▲ nearly 36% of visitors were from outside the region ▲ the festival was most favored by the trend-sensitive 20s age group (20.9% of visitors) ▲ increased use of public transportation (bus, train) by up to 20% ▲ a 17.2% increase in spending before and after the festival, all indicators reflecting the success of a cultural tourism-type festival and its economic impact.

Additionally, 15 companies participating in the ramyeon food zone voluntarily donated part of their profits to purchase about 3 million KRW worth of ramyeon as charity to help neighbors, practicing a community love movement.

The city plans to apply for the Gyeongbuk Province designated festival contest in January next year using the derived festival indicators and achievements, and is designing a long-term roadmap aiming for a cultural tourism-type festival through continuous development strategies.

◆ All-in on Developing Region-Specific Tourism Products and Attracting Customized Tourists

Industrial Heritage Tour.

Launched in June with the purpose of fostering tourism products tailored to local industries, the “Industrial Heritage Tour with Stories” has been conducted through performance-type tours (1st and 3rd weeks, on-site performances, manufacturing process, photo zones, exhibition halls, and other content experiences) and story guide-type tours (2nd and 4th weeks, storytelling content explanations) to meet the diverse demands of tourists.

The storytelling of Gumi Industrial Complex’s past, present, and future attracted high interest and participation in each tour. A total of 20 sessions (10 performance-type, 10 story guide-type) will be held by the end of the year, with about 400 participants, reflecting high popularity.

Participants toured industrial heritage resources owned by related companies such as Nongshim, SM Bexel, Samsung Electronics, Youngdo Velvet, and Kolon Industries, resulting in high overall satisfaction. Plans are underway to upgrade the industrial tourism program by increasing the number of sessions through budget expansion in 2024 and adding new target companies to enhance and supplement the content.

◆ Launch of the Gyochon 1st Branch Regional Tourism Landmark Project

The city plans to transform the area around the 1st branch of “Gyochon Chicken,” a franchise that started in Gumi in 1991 and has become a regional representative brand, located in Songjeong-dong, into a tourist attraction.

This project involves renewing the 1st branch and investing 1.8 billion KRW (1.3 billion from the private sector, 500 million from the city) to create a 300-meter section from the Gumi Intercity Bus Terminal intersection to the 1st branch area with public design-based guide signs, sculptures, murals, photo zones, and a media wall, recreating Gyochon’s history (1991 Gyochon-ro) and culture (2023 Gyochon-ro).

Business plans and schedules are being finalized through practical consultations, and specialized content unique to the 1st branch will be developed to create a new tourism brand.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Gyochon F&B in January 2024, the city will kick off the regional tourism landmark project and actively build cooperative relationships across culture, sports, and tourism, including ▲ hosting the 10th KLPGA Gyochon 1991 Ladies Open in Gumi (May 3?5, 2024) ▲ collaborating on developing specialized menus using local specialties at the 1st branch ▲ cooperating on the Gumi City (Industrial) Tour program ▲ participating in Gumi’s representative festivals.

◆ ‘Gumi Goods’ Capturing Both Regional Coexistence and Brand Value

The city is striving to secure competitiveness in the tourism industry and enhance the satisfaction of tourists visiting Gumi by producing and selling region-specific tourism souvenirs.

As a premium strategy, local artists and manufacturers are collaborating to develop local specialty souvenirs unique to Gumi, and various souvenirs featuring Gumi’s mascot Tommy and the Ramyeon Festival characters Boogie and Nudi will be introduced.

The Tommy character is undergoing applied design development, item selection, and marketing strategy establishment through commissioned work to accelerate goods development. The Boogie and Nudi characters’ copyright property rights were opened in October to allow small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners headquartered in Gumi to use them free of charge.

As a result, four local companies participated in developing character-applied products, which were exhibited and sold at the 106th anniversary cultural event of President Park’s birth and the 2023 Gumi Ramyeon Festival in November, gaining recognition as new Gumi tourism goods.

The city plans to open a tourism souvenir shop inside the Gumi Welcome Center (1st floor of Gumi Station) and operate it as an essential tourist course for visitors to Gumi, aiming to enhance the image of a tourism city and revitalize the local economy simultaneously.

Mayor Kim Jang-ho said, “The Gumi Ramyeon Festival ranked first in the cultural tourism sector (3rd overall) among Gumi’s top 10 municipal news this year, recognizing its potential as a representative local festival. The tourism branding linked to Gumi’s unique industrial heritage has also attracted tourists’ attention, marking a significant achievement as an important local tourism resource. Please pay attention to Gumi’s spectacular transformation into a ‘honey-fun city’ by maximizing its strengths and preparing differentiated festivals and tourism products unique to Gumi,” expressing his confidence.