Chuncheon Achieves First Grade... Danyang Selected as the Only Population Decline Area
An important indicator that can gauge the present and future of Korean tourism has been released. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute announced the results of the ‘2023 Regional Tourism Development Index’ analysis conducted on 17 metropolitan cities and provinces and 151 cities, counties, and districts nationwide on the 30th.
Students from the Radcliffe Orchestra club at Harvard University in the United States are visiting Jingwansa Temple in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, taking photos with the Daeungjeon Hall in the background. [Photo by Yonhap News]
The ‘Regional Tourism Development Index’ is basic data that comprehensively analyzes the level of regional tourism development and has been surveyed biennially since 2015. It is classified into grades 1 to 6 based on 43 indicators representing tourism capacity, tourism consumption power, and tourism policy capability. In this survey, key indicators reflecting the changing tourism environment, such as food & shopping, transportation, and search growth rate, were added to further strengthen the function of diagnosing regional tourism competitiveness.
The average score of metropolitan local governments was 86.21 points, an increase of 3.47 points compared to 82.74 points in 2021. The average score of basic local governments was 86.11 points, increasing by 3.38 points during the same period, showing that the domestic tourism market is recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The metropolitan local governments selected as grade 1 were Seoul Special City and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. The basic local governments included six places: Gangneung-si, Gyeongju-si, Danyang-gun, Sokcho-si, Yeosu-si, and Chuncheon-si. These regions received high evaluations in terms of increases in the number of tourists and expenditure, as well as improvements in tourism infrastructure.
CEO Im So of Gamjabat posed holding freshly baked bread at Cafe Gamjabat in Chuncheon. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@
Seoul proved its popularity by ranking first in major tourist destination search volume, and Chuncheon was selected as grade 1 for the first time due to the opening of Legoland and the popularity of its local specialty, potato bread. Danyang-gun was the only area among population-declining regions (89 cities, counties, and districts) to be rated grade 1.
It was revealed that for regional tourism development, creating an environment where tourists can stay longer, such as representative tourist attractions, food & shopping facilities, and quality accommodations, is essential. These factors lead to increased SNS search activity and tourism consumption power, suggesting that not only the development of traditional tourism resources but also the capability to discover content suited to modern tourism trends is important.
On the other hand, local governments belonging to grades 4 to 6 accounted for the majority, clearly showing disparities between regions. The issue of regional tourism imbalance due to the preference for short-distance travel destinations was also pointed out as a task to be resolved in the future.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to use this index to diagnose the current status of regional tourism and work on policies to address problems. Detailed information on grade 1 regions was disclosed in this analysis. Information on other grades and detailed contents can be found on the Tourism Development Information System website.
Kim Geun-ho, Director of Tourism Industry Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “The Regional Tourism Development Index is useful for diagnosing changes in the tourism environment and overall tourist consumption activities.” He added, “We hope each region utilizes the index to promote tourism revitalization, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will actively support regional tourism development by reflecting the analysis results in policies.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
