Kopl Joint Development MOU for Local Travel Products
Launch of Employment Camps and Independent Travel Packages
The Hwasun County Culture and Tourism Foundation announced on November 14 that the practical results of the MOU for joint development of local travel products for foreigners, signed with Kopl (KOPEL) in August, have begun to materialize in earnest since November.
Tourists from Kopple enjoying the Hwasun Flower River Road Music Fountain. Provided by Hwasun County
The foundation stated that it is presenting a new model for local tourism for foreigners, achieving a series of outcomes including festival-linked visits by Kopl’s Jeonnam and Seoul branches, an employment camp organized by Hanyang University’s Office of International Affairs, and the launch of independent travel products for foreigners.
For the first trip, from November 1 to 2, a Kopl visit program was held in conjunction with the 26th Hwasun Unju Cultural Festival, bringing around 80 exchange students from the Jeonnam and Seoul branches to Hwasun. This event was particularly significant as the first joint event between Kopl’s Jeonnam and Seoul branches.
Participants learned about traditional community culture by singing and dancing to “Dojang-ri Field Song,” an intangible heritage of Hwasun, together with local residents through a communal tea ceremony. They also enjoyed the night view of the Flower River Road Musical Fountain at the invitation of Hwasun County Governor Koo Bokgyu, fully immersing themselves in the festive atmosphere.
The students expressed high satisfaction, saying, “It’s difficult to have such an authentic local experience in Korea.”
From November 7 to 9, about 50 foreign master’s and doctoral exchange students preparing for employment in Korea visited Hwasun as part of a three-day, two-night employment camp organized by Hanyang University’s Office of International Affairs. This program was designed to encapsulate the essence of foreigner-oriented local travel content jointly developed by the foundation and Kopl.
Participants experienced making Korean food at Yangchamsa House, enjoyed craft activities at Orosi Art Studio, and practiced healing yoga at Ssangbongsa Temple the next morning, finding relaxation and meditation in the tranquil atmosphere unique to the temple.
During their three-day, two-night stay at Kumho Hwasun Spa Resort, they also attended special lectures on employment strategies and participated in mock interview programs, receiving praise for the harmonious blend of cultural experiences and practical job preparation.
The success of these new programs was attributed to Kopl’s proactive planning and management, with the close cooperation between Hwasun and Kopl demonstrating new possibilities for foreigner-oriented stay-type tourism.
The foundation will also launch a new “KTX-linked small-group independent travel product” for individual foreign travelers on November 29.
This will be the first independent travel program in Hwasun for foreigners, operated on a self-registration basis rather than advance recruitment, allowing foreigners who wish to visit Hwasun to use the KTX on their own. It represents a new form of tourism product.
The foundation plans to actively target the foreign FIT (Free Independent Traveler) market through this initiative.
CEO Koo Jongcheon stated, “Next year, we will establish a more systematic cooperation framework through official consultations with Hanyang University’s Office of International Affairs, and do our best to ensure that Hwasun’s unique local travel for foreigners becomes a new differentiated model for Hwasun tourism.”
He added, “We will further develop programs based on local culture and arts, activate resident participation, and expand collaboration with universities and cultural institutions to grow Hwasun into a global tourism city where international exchange and local experiences coexist.”
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