Gyeongbuk Gimcheon and Yeongdeok Healing Spots Newly Selected as 'Wellness Tourism Destinations' by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

'Guknip Gimcheon Chiyu Forest' and 'Yeongdeok Humanities Healing Center Yeomyeong' Newly Selected

Gimcheon Healing Forest.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 10th that two new sites in the province, the National Gimcheon Healing Forest and Yeongdeok Humanities Healing Center Yeomyeong, were newly selected as '2020 Wellness Tourism Destinations' jointly promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been selecting and supporting 'Recommended Wellness Tourism Destinations' since 2017 to foster wellness tourism, which focuses on health and healing beyond treatment-centered medical tourism. By selecting nine additional sites this year, the number of 'Wellness Tourism Destinations' has increased to 48. Wellness tourism is a compound word of 'well-being' and 'fitness,' referring to tourism that pursues health and quality of life improvement by utilizing facilities and resources.

This year, 37 sites recommended by local governments and regional tourism organizations nationwide were nominated for the wellness tourism destination evaluation. The organizers conducted a first round of document review, a second round of on-site evaluation, and a third round of selection committee review based on criteria such as content originality, intimacy, potential for product development, accessibility for individual tourists, and capacity for group accommodation, ultimately selecting nine sites with the most uniquely Korean charm.

Recommended wellness tourism destinations are categorized into four themes: ▲Nature and Forest Healing ▲Healing (Therapy) and Meditation ▲Beauty and Spa ▲Oriental Medicine. Once selected as a wellness tourism destination, sites receive support from the Korea Tourism Organization for tourism facility consulting, improvement of foreign visitor accommodation conditions, domestic and international promotional activities, and tourism product development.

Classified under the Nature and Forest Healing theme, the 'National Gimcheon Healing Forest' offers drum meditation experiences in a birch forest that is healing just to look at. It operates various forest healing programs such as healthy forest trekking, water sound meditation, forest gymnastics, and body therapy.

Humanities Healing Center 'Yeomyeong'.

Yeongdeok's 'Humanities Healing Center Yeomyeong' is recognized as the only healing and meditation tourism site. It provides a digital detox space where mobile phone signals do not reach, allowing visitors to experience professional meditation and healing. It is famous as a mind healing space offering programs such as meditation, qigong, and healthy food experiences.

Kim Sang-cheol, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, emphasized, "Noting the increasing public interest in health, Gyeongsangbuk-do will take the lead in linking changes in individual quality of life and lifestyle with the wellness tourism industry."

Meanwhile, 'wellness tourism,' which pursues health promotion and quality of life improvement, is a large-scale and high value-added tourism sector that is gaining global attention and showing rapid growth every year. Last year, approximately 250,000 foreign tourists visited wellness tourism destinations, a 68% increase compared to 2018.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.