Jeollanam-do to Capitalize on
"Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year"

Gov. Park crusades to publicize the tastes and sights of the province and to improve the welcoming of guests

The Jeollanam-do provincial government is pulling out all the stops to capitalize on "Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year"in order to realize its goal of elevating the province to a Korean hub of culture, sea and ecotourism.
Jeollanam Province Gov. Park Jun-yung presided over a meeting of 40 tourism experts and representatives from accommodations, transportation, restaurants and other tourism-related circles at the provincial government building on Feb. 22 to make "Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year"a success. The gathering was designed to overhaul tourism policies and explore new ideas by collecting diverse views from tourism experts.
On the occasion of "Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year,"the provincial government is taking the initiative in helping restaurants, accommodations, travel and transportation circles innovate the way they serve visitors while aggressively developing diverse tourism products to differentiate itself from other provinces and to conduct more dynamic publicity activities.
On the same day, 100 experts from each tourism area inaugurated the Tourism Policy Community and decided to regulate the Jeollanam-do tourism promotion strategy meeting on a quarterly basis in order to discuss such specific themes as kind service and cleaning campaigns. Those on hand held the inaugural Jeollanam-do tourism promotion strategy meeting.
Park told the attendees, "We're striving to improve the way the tastes and sights of Jeollanam-do are publicized and guests are greeted and treated. We hope that all of the province's people join forces in improving the landscape of all regions, speaking to guests in a polite and kind manner and improving the food culture."In a related development, the provincial government held a session designed to publicize the province's tourism industry at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on March 10 with about 130 people, including those from tourism-related industries in Seoul, on hand.
In particular, on the occasion of "Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year,"the provincial government invited domestic travel agencies specializing in intrabound tourism for the development of Jeollanam-do tourism products and inbound travel agencies for the purpose of attracting tourists from Japan and China and those hailing from Jeollanam-do for promoting home-coming trips.
The session highlighted such differentiated features of Jeollanam-do as the 2008 Hampyeong World Butterfly & Insect Expo, the sole "Slow Cities"in both Korea and Asia; "Hwangpo Dotbae"sail experience; recently renovated infrastructure, including Muan International Airport; traditional Korean "hanok"house lodging and tour gift booths as well as its incentive policies.
Chung Hu-yeon, president of Arumdaun Tour, said, "In Jeollanam-do, there are numerous tourist areas with the potential for tapping tourism products like the newly added "Slow Cities,"and if such areas are developed as tourism products, the province will emerge as an attractive area to see a surge of tourists."Arumdaun Tour was designated as the 2007 excellent travel agency by the provincial government for its achievement in attracting tourists.
Chu Dong-shik, chief of the Tourism and Culture Bureau at the provincial government, said "Jeollanam-do, marking "Visit Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Year,"has put on the market a selection of 20 springtime travel products, including destinations on scenic Hong and Baek Islands, the Gwangyang Ume Flower Festival, the Yeongam Cherry Flower Festival and the Hampyeong World Butterfly and Insect Expo." nw

Jeollanam-do Gov. Park Jun-yung