A Treasure
of Tourist Attractions
- Gyeonggi greets tourists with fascinating tour programs during
'Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005'


Gyeonggi Province is abuzz with tourism promotion plans aimed at capitalizing on the government' declared "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005." Hong Seoung-pyo, director of Tourism Division at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, said, "The "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005" project is aimed at gaining momentum for development of the province's tourism industry by carrying out tourism promotion policies on a systematic and regional manner. I understand that the project should concentrate on building up hardware and software infrastructure for promoting the tourism industry, rather than a transient, event-oriented one."
The province aims to attract a target of 69 million international and Korean tourists this year from 45 million in 2002, with the added value of the tourism industry projected to grow to 3.49 trillion won in 2005 from 2.52 trillion won in 2002, Hong said.
In reality, the province is welcoming international and Korean tourist with such diverse, exotic, rich tourism resources as historic cultural heritage, pristine natural wonders and souped-up culture and arts all year round. To name a few, there are Hwaseong Fortress, put on the UNESCO Cultural Heritage, and the traditional ceramic kiln sites in Icheon and Yeoju,; more than 300,000-year-old prehistoric relics in Jeongok-ri, Yeoncheon,; theme parks with international standards, including EverLand, Korean Folk Village, Seoul Land, Seoul Racecourse; diverse and rich cultural properties (746 national and provincial cultural items); and 48 museums and 29 galleries.
Gyeonggi is actively pitching for its tourism resources overseas. In particular, the spectators of CMT 2005, Europe's most important public exhibition for caravanning, motoring and tourism, held in Stuttgart, Germany, was given a resounding reception to Gyeonggi tourism promotion featuring the Anseong City Namsadang Baudeogi troupe's acrobatic and other performances. The following are the excerpts of Director Hong's interview with NewsWorld.

Question: What's significance of the government's designating the year 2005 as "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005" and what does your province present on the occasion of the event?
Answer: Each country has strived to strategically foster the tourism industry as one of its representative growth engine industries of the 21st century and leap itself as one of global tourism hubs. For instance, Japan and China each promote "Japan Expo 2005 Aichi" and "Visit China Year 2005."
As the public concern over leisure is rising on top of implementation of the five-day workweek system, the tourism market is expanding at a dramatic pace. Gyeonggi Province has 25 million people within a one-hour vehicle drive and 1 billion people within two hours' flight.
Gyeonggi Province plans to elevate its tourism industry to a level corresponding to the status of its economic power. The province has a population of 10.38 million on a land area accounting for 21.2 percent of the national territory. The province has a 20.1 percent portion in the nation's total gross regional domestic product (GRDP) and takes up a 41.1 percent share in the domestic knowledge-based manufacturing industry. Gyeonggi-do has stable administrative and economic capabilities with a fiscal size of about 20 trillion won.
The "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005" project is aimed at gaining momentum for development of the province's tourism industry by carrying our tourism promotion policies on a systematic and regional manner. I understand that the project should concentrate on building up hardware and software infrastructure for promoting the tourism industry, rather than a transient, event-oriented one. The project has to be also paralleled by steps designed to encourage residents in the Seoul metropolitan area to conduct their leisure activities in the wake of the introduction of the five-day workweek system.
During the tourism promotion period, the provincial government wants to publicize its 50 provincial representative and 50 regional events. The provincial representative festivals include World Flower Exhibition Goyang slated for April, International Motor Show in May, World Ceramic Biennale 2005 between April and June, Pucheon International Fantastic Film in July, and Anseong Baudeogi Farm Music Performance in September. The province offers diverse and differentiating provincial representative festivals and tourist programs all year round to welcome international and domestic tourists with loads of fun and pleasure.

Q: Would you elaborate on the details of a goal of attracting tourists during the "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005"?
A: The province aims to raise the number of visiting tourists to about 69 million in 2005 from 45 million in 2002. The provincial government projects the added value of the tourism industry to grow to 3,491.1 billion won in 2005 from 2,520.6 billion won in 2002. The industry is forecast to have the effects of hiring 254,000 people in 2005, up from 183,000 in 2002.
The "Visit Gyeonggi-Korea 2005" project is designed to raise the profile of not only Gyeonggi but also Korea as one of tourism destinations.
The tourism promotion project will serve as an opportunity for provincial residents to raise their awareness toward the tourism industry and encourage their voluntary participation in creating a tourist-friendly environment.
The provincial government will also overhaul a system connecting tourism resources and explore new tourist programs with the goal of raising its competitive edge in the tourism industry and giving an impetus in the epochal development of the industry.
The project calls for, among others, creating the province's unified tourism image and expediting regional festivals in a bid to provide tourists with diverse and exotic things to sightsee.

Q: Could you explain our readers about your province's rich culture and tourism products, including ecological resources and national security-related tour courses?
A: The province boasts of such rich tourism resources as historic cultural heritage, pristine natural wonders and souped-up culture and arts. To name a few, there are Hwaseong Fortress, put on the UNESCO Cultural Heritage, and the traditional ceramic kiln sites in Icheon and Yeoju,; more than 300,000-year-old prehistoric relics in Jeongok-ri, Yeoncheon,; theme parks with international standards, including EverLand, Korean Folk Village, Seoul Land, Seoul Racecourse; diverse and rich cultural properties (746 national and provincial cultural items); 48 museums and 29 galleries,; and such breathtaking attractions as West Coast sunset and Mt. Bukhan and Namhan-gang and Bukhan-gang rivers.
Suwon is the seat of the provincial government with such cultural heritage as Hwaseong Fortress as well as ceramic culture flourishing in Icheon, Yeoju and Gwangju. The third World Ceramic Biennale 2005 is slated for Apr. 23-June 19.
Hwaseong Fortress, Haenggung and Namyangju Studio are well-known for locations shooting movies and dramas, including "Daejanggeum," one of the TV hit dramas that have gained popularity in Asia.
The province is virtually a treasure of tourism resources based on a wondrous harmony of ancient Korea's tradition and modernity, the past and the present, and one of the world's most dynamic IT industrial bases. For instance, such remnants of the Cold War Era as the Demilitarized Zone, Panmunjeom, the Third Tunnel, dug by North Korea, and the Dorasan Railroad Station become a magnet for international tourists that get a glimpse of inter-Korean reconciliation and coexistence beyond the division of the Korean Peninsula and conflicts.

Q: Could you give the details of the 2005 World Ceramic Biennale and other culture and tourism festivals?
A: The World Ceramic Biennale 2005, slated for Apr. 23 and June 19, is one of the province's 10 representative festivals and 50 regional festivals. The biennale is gaining acclamation that "the World Ceramic Biennale, being held in Icheon, Gwangju and Yeoju, has rewritten the global history of ceramics." The biennale will feature such ceramic exhibitions, academic forums, hands-on experience of making ceramics and performances.
Attracting the limelight from international and Korean tourists is World Peace Festival Gyeonggi Province will organize in such areas as Imjin-gak Pavilion and Mt. Dora-san Observatory in August. The festival is aimed at delivering such messages as reconciliation & co-existence, and peace & unification in the venues, the reminder of the Cold War in Korea, the only divided country in the world.
In particular, the tour course covering such tourist attractions as the Third Tunnel, Imjin-gak Pavilion and Mt. Dora-san Railroad Station is gaining popularity among Japanese tourists who make a transfer at Incheon International Airport before heading for the United States. The Japanese transit tourists have their air fares to the United States saved by 30 percent, and they are also given the opportunity to tour the DMZ area for a six-hour span waiting for a transit.
The province's representative international festivals include World Korea Flower s Goyang slated for Apr. 16-30 in Ilsan, on the northern outskirts of Seoul, 2005 Seoul Motor Show, between Apr. 30 and May 8 at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang City, Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival between July 14-23 in Bucheon City, Hwaseong International Play Festival in August in Suwon City and Anseong Baudeogi Festival slated for September in Anseong City.

Q: What traditional cultural heritage and cultural properties does Gyeonggi Province boasts of?
A: Gyeonggi Province is recognized as one of the birthplaces of silhak, the practical ideology of ancient Korea. The provincial government will organize events designed to inherit and evolve silhak, while establishing a museum aimed at accommodating materials related to silhak and multi-purpose cultural space for exhibiting items concerning the ideology and performances.
The provincial government is seeking to build up an infrastructure for educating and instilling youngsters and students with filial piety, one of Korea's ancient principal virtues. To this end, it envisages construction of such facilities as a planned filial piety education center where youngsters, together with their parents, will stay for two nights and three days or three nights and four days to undergo education on the virtue.
The province has 11 state-designated cultural properties, including Namhansan-seong Fortress, Hwaseong Fortress and Togsan-seong Fortress, and there are 49 provincial cultural remains and sites, including the birthplace house of the Empress Myeongseong, Gwangju Confucian School in Hanam, Hwaseong Haenggung (Auxiliary Palace) and Jugjusan-seong Fortress in Anseong.

Q: What steps are in place to attract foreign tourists and what're your marketing strategies?
A: The provincial government has marketed or has been negotiating the development of 57 new tourist products with the goal of attracting a total of 44,190 tourists -- 20 products aimed at luring 22.630 tourists from Japan, including hallyu-related ones; 28 products with a target of attracting 20.350 tourists from Southeast Asia, including skiing tourist courses; and nine products with a target of bringing in 1,210 tourists from the Americas and Europe, including taekwondo pilgrimage tours.
Gyeonggi Province has pitching for the World Ceramic Biennale 2005 and tour to the World cultural heritage since 2004 when it attracted 2,000 Japanese tourists. World Peace Festival and other festivals are also being promoted to lure Japanese and other Southeast Asian tourists.
Japan Travel Bureau's tourist products are expected to attract about 10,000 Japanese during the Korea-Japan culture exchange exhibitions between Feb. 18 and 20.
The spectators of CMT 2005, Europe's most important public exhibition for caravanning, motoring and tourism, held in Stuttgart, Germany, was given a resounding reception to Gyeonggi tourism promotion featuring the Anseong City Namsadang Baudeogi troupeOs acrobatic and other performances.
Gyeonggi Province offers such diverse tourist products as the DMZ tours for transit passengers, skiing tours for Southeast Asians, and tourist products related to Hallyu tourist attractions, including the Daejanggum (Hallyu hit drama) Theme Park in Yangju, Korean Folk Village and Hwaseong Fortress.
On the occasion of the opening of the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), the provincial government and travel agencies specializing in conventions have teamed up to develop and promote tourist products in conjunction with international conferences and conventions slated for 2005 in Korea.

Q: Could you comment on plans to cultivate the international convention industry and expand infrastructure?
A: The Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) is to open in April in Goyang, north of Seoul, after construction between 1999 and 2005 at a cost of 231 billion won. KINTEX has exhibition space of 56,000 sq. meters or 17,000 pyeong.
During 2005, KINTEX will hold 27 exhibitions and 28 conventions, while the exhibition center is now negotiating on accommodating 28 more exhibitions and 21 more conventions.
The scheduled exhibitions include Seoul Motor Show slated for Apr. 29-May 8,; the 23rd Seoul International Food Exhibition ( Seoul Food 2005), May 17-20,; Tool TECH 2005 (Seoul International Too & Related Equipment Exhibition 2005), Oct. 26-30, while the scheduled international conferences include Asia CEO Forum slated for Apr. 6-8 and Asia Pacific tourism Association (APTA) 2005 Annual Conference between July 7 and July 10. nw