Yeoju City in Gyeonggi Province announced on August 21 that Gangcheon Island has been selected as the final site for the "2025 Gyeonggi Wellness Tourism Destination" project, organized by Gyeonggi Province. This initiative aims to discover and foster wellness tourism resources in Gyeonggi Province over the long term.
Wellness tourism, a portmanteau of "well-being" and "happiness," refers to a new travel trend that seeks physical, mental, and emotional stability. In 2023, Gyeonggi Province enacted the "Ordinance on Supporting the Development of Wellness Tourism in Gyeonggi Province" to promote wellness tourism. As its first project, the province plans to select and intensively support 15 representative wellness tourism destinations.
The selection of Gangcheon Island for this project is the result of Yeoju City's proactive response, including its plan to develop the Gangcheon Island area into a tourism healing district in 2024. In line with this plan, the Leisure Business Team of the Yeoju Sejong Cultural Tourism Foundation will be established on October 1, 2024, and tourism professionals will be assigned to Gangcheon Island to prepare wellness programs.
Gangcheon Island applied under the "with Pets" category, one of the six Gyeonggi-style wellness tourism themes (Food, Stay, Beauty, Meditation, Healing, and with Pets), and was selected. The island will receive a variety of support from Gyeonggi Province over the next three years, including customized consulting, assistance with implementing wellness programs, and online and offline marketing promotions.
Through these efforts, Gangcheon Island is expected to establish itself as a unique tourist destination offering healing programs unavailable anywhere else in the country, such as earthing experiences, ecological tourism, and stargazing, all of which can be enjoyed with pets.
The selection of Gangcheon Island as a wellness tourism destination is expected to bring various positive effects to the local economy, going beyond simply adding another tourist attraction. Yeoju City plans to continue its efforts to revitalize the local economy by attracting tourists through various initiatives, such as the community-based Tourism Dure project involving local residents.
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