Population Strategy Focused on Attracting Living Population to Haenam through Tourism and Visits to Boost Regional Vitality
Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do is actively working to expand the ‘living population’ in response to population decline.
According to the county on the 20th, the living population is a concept that includes not only the resident population but also the ‘population staying’ in the area. It counts people who stay in the region for more than 3 hours a day at least once a month through commuting, schooling, tourism, etc., thereby enhancing the actual vitality of the region.
While the national total population is decreasing, the competition among regions to attract population is intensifying. To overcome this situation, the government introduced the new population concept of living population through the ‘Special Act on Support for Population Declining Areas’ in October last year.
Haenam County is actively working to expand the "living population" in response to population decline. [Photo by Haenam County]
Haenam-gun is also accelerating the discovery of customized policies to expand the living population in response to continuous population decline such as aging.
First, the regional win-win ‘Ganghaeyeong Project,’ an investment project funded by the Local Extinction Response Fund, is getting underway. The Ganghaeyeong Project is a local government win-win project aimed at actively responding to population extinction by attracting living population through the development of tourism content linking the three regions of Gangjin, Haenam, and Yeongam.
By developing and operating converged tourism content linking the regions, the project promotes visits to adjacent areas rather than focusing on a single destination, increasing the length of stay in the area, which leads to the inflow of living population and revitalization of tourism.
Various projects are also being promoted to extend the stay of tourists and others in Haenam. About 9,600 people have been issued the Haenam Love Citizen Card, which is given to participants in the Haenam Hometown Love Donation System or members of Haenam Love With Us, and in the second half of the year, a digital tourism resident card project will be implemented through a Korea Tourism Organization public contest.
Visitors holding the Haenam Love Citizen Card and the Digital Tourism Resident Card will receive various discount benefits when visiting the area, helping to extend their stay.
There are also programs that allow long-term stays in Haenam. The ‘Travel for a Month in Namdo’ program supports accommodation fees, admission fees, and experience fees for those who travel and stay long-term in Haenam, and the ‘Ttangkkeut Masil’ long-term stay tourism program, which allows visitors to live like locals, is also popular.
Additionally, the ‘Living in Haenam’ program for urban residents interested in returning to farming or rural life allows participants to stay in a village for three months, experiencing Haenam life through farming practice and local exploration.
From the second half of the year, the ‘Gwanak to Haenam Two-Region Living’ project will also be promoted targeting youth from Gwanak-gu with whom an MOU has been signed.
A county official stated, “In the nationwide trend of population decline, the increase of the living population is emerging as an alternative population policy that can bring vitality to the region,” adding, “We will operate various policies to ensure a steady inflow of living population related to Haenam.”
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