Suncheon Gourmet Week Opens New Possibilities for Food and Local Tourism

Launch of 'Gastronomic Travel' Packages to Promote Suncheon Cuisine and Restaurants

Among the 2025 domestic tourism trends announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, local tourism based on gastronomic travel and localism is expected to continue in the future. The 2025 Suncheon Gastronomy Week event, held in Suncheon for a week starting on the 29th of last month, focused on the tourism trend of 'gastronomic travel and local tourism.'

This event went beyond a simple promotional event by launching high-quality gastronomic travel packages and making new attempts to connect local businesses, such as Suncheon cuisine and traditional markets, thereby elevating the prestige of Suncheon as an ecological gastronomy city.

Group photo of award-winning businesses after the gourmet certification ceremony. Provided by Suncheon City.

The keywords for this Suncheon Gastronomy Week event were 'local' and 'gastronomy.' More than 20 gastronomy markets were held against the open view of the National Garden Space Hub, with participation from local small business owners as well as universities and specialized high schools with food-related departments.

The food talk show by master chef Ahn Yuseong, known for appearing on Black and White Chef and a graduate of Suncheon University, was also popular among visitors. The Suncheon Bapsang building, which was used as a restaurant during the expo, hosted food exhibitions, spring greens cooking classes, and food dining events.

Based on last year's resource survey on disappearing local traditional foods and ingredients, the city exhibited representative dishes and local traditional liquors of Suncheon and provided various information about Suncheon's famous restaurants.

The Local & Food Dining event with local chefs featured chef Kim Kahyun of 'Joyful Table' and chef Park Hyesuk of 'Hyangtojeong,' who shared stories about their food experiences and easy-to-follow recipes, offering participants a glimpse into the life and philosophy embedded in food, beyond just a meal.

In the 'Spring Picnic Lunchbox Cooking Class,' which used Suncheon's spring ingredients, fathers and children, as well as young couples, made spring greens rice ball lunchboxes together using local agricultural products. Participants enjoyed a garden picnic at Suncheonman National Garden with their homemade lunchboxes, experiencing something new that had not been available in the garden before.

Unlike previous events focused on performances, this event offered tourists the differentiated charm of gastronomic tourism through various in-depth explorations of the essence of Suncheon cuisine. It also provided new vitality and encouragement to local restaurants facing economic hardship. Suncheon wild Jakseolcha is made using the Gujeung Gupo method, where the tea is roasted and dried nine times in a 300-degree cauldron.

This special tea experience during Gastronomy Week was conducted a total of 10 times at the Garden Workation Center by Shin Sunmi, the successor to Shin Gwangsu, Suncheon's Food Master No. 18, who has continued this traditional method. A total of 168 people participated.

This program was designed as a new healing tourism product, offering explanations about Jakseolcha and allowing participants to enjoy tea in the garden, blending tea and nature for a healing and restorative time.

A participant from Seoul said, "It was a time when I could forget everything in my busy daily life and focus solely on myself. From now on, I think I will take more interest in and enjoy our traditional teas. The tea experience in the garden seemed to clear both my body and mind."

This Gastronomy Week also featured local gastronomy tours such as 'Market Stories Told by Sijin' and the gastronomic romantic journey 'Nagan Pungnyu,' allowing participants to experience various parts of Suncheon. Here, 'Sijin' refers not to a poet (siin), but to a market person (sijin). Suncheon has two five-day markets: Ujang and Araetjang. The heads of the merchants' associations at these two markets served as guides, introducing every corner and hidden story of the markets, and directly connecting visitors with the merchants to share the rich traditions of the markets.

In addition, participants could purchase various spring greens and ingredients from the markets, enjoy a cooking class using these ingredients, and even have a Dongcheon picnic. The premium gastronomy tour 'Nagan Pungnyu,' which intoxicates the senses with spring, liquor, taste, atmosphere, and sound, allowed tourists seeking a unique local journey to fully experience the romance of Suncheon in spring.

First, participants enjoyed spring by driving along cherry blossom roads. Second, they tasted Suncheon's traditional liquors and created their own personalized traditional liquor. Third, they indulged in taste with the Nagan Paljinmi lunchbox made from precious local ingredients, and fourth, they soaked in the atmosphere while strolling the color-filled alleys of Nagan Eupseong. Finally, the tour was completed by enjoying pansori with Nagan traditional tea, immersing participants in the sounds of Suncheon's spring local gastronomy tour.

A city official said, "Through this Gastronomy Week, we are working to vitalize a new gastronomic tourism industry connecting delicious Suncheon cuisine and tourism resources everywhere, and to establish Suncheon as an ecological gastronomy city. Local gastronomy tourism programs, led by public-private cooperation and local residents, are expected to directly benefit the local food and accommodation industries and the regional economy."

In addition to this Gastronomy Week event, the city plans to enhance the quality of Suncheon cuisine and open a new horizon for local tourism connecting gastronomy, tourism, and the region through various projects such as support for restaurant packaging materials, meal kit support, and training to strengthen the competitiveness of restaurants.