Gyeongju Hwarang Village Gains Popularity with Mobile Escape Room...Emerging as a Popular Content

7,165 Users Last Year,
New Content Added Amid High Satisfaction

Gyeongju City in Gyeongbuk Province is receiving high praise from tourists as a result of developing and implementing various attractions and participation programs to diversify Gyeongju tourism and promote themed tourism.

On the 14th, it was announced that the outdoor mobile smart tour escape room content "Yonghwahyangdo," operated by Gyeongju Hwarang Village, recorded 7,165 users over the past year, maintaining steady popularity.

The outdoor escape room mobile smart tour content "Yonghwahyangdo," operated by Hwarang Village in Gyeongju City, recorded 7,165 users over the past year, maintaining steady popularity.
[Photo by Gyeongju City]

The outdoor escape room project was fully funded by provincial government funds after Hwarang Village was selected in 2021 for the Gyeongsangbuk-do’s three major cultural zone infrastructure revitalization support project.

Utilizing AR (Augmented Reality) and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, this program provides ICT-based virtual experiences to youth familiar with smart devices and operates for both groups and general users.

Despite climate changes such as record-breaking heatwaves, tropical nights, and heavy snowfall in 2024, a total of 7,165 people enjoyed the program, including 1,569 general users and 5,596 group users.

The high satisfaction of users is also confirmed by a Google Play Store rating of 4.6 points (as of January 2025) and positive user reviews.

Hwarang Village plans to develop indoor escape room content within the year, reflecting users’ feedback, and will begin pilot operations.

Through this, they intend to provide year-round experiential opportunities regardless of weather conditions.

Thanks to this, the pre-reservation for training activities at Hwarang Village this year was so popular that it was fully booked immediately after reservations opened in October last year.

In particular, a forest experience center for young children is scheduled to open in the first half of this year, ensuring the continued popularity of Hwarang Village.

Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju said, “This year is an important year as the 2025 APEC Summit will be held, and we will establish ourselves as a destination where global experiential tourism and youth activities harmonize,” adding, “We will do our best to provide more innovative content and services.”