Suncheon Tourism to Boost Overnight Tourism Activation for Enhanced Stay-Type Tourism

Clean, Healing, and Family-Friendly Night Tourism for Extended Stays in Suncheon
Expecting Regional Economic Vitality by Increasing Stay Duration through Discovering Nighttime Attractions, Experiences, and Culture

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] The Korea Tourism Organization held the ‘2020 Night Tourism Forum’ as a measure to revive the tourism industry, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and to stimulate the economy, and announced the research results on ‘Night Tourism Status Survey and Activation Measures.’

This study, conducted from mid-February to early May this year, analyzed that the direct spending effect by tourists according to night tourism expenditure would reach 3.9 trillion KRW, employment effect 40,000 people, and production inducement effect about 7 trillion KRW.

▶ Concept of Night Tourism and Overseas Cases

Night tourism refers to tourist attractions, contents, festivals, etc., that can be enjoyed at night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.

Most of these activities are directly linked to the night economy. Many countries such as the UK and the US are already promoting national-level night tourism policies to overcome off-seasons and revitalize local economies.

London, UK, organized the Night Economy Committee in 2016 and operates a night mayor who manages and operates the night market, and has also designated night economy zones.

New York, USA, has a department leading night culture management and promotes itself as “the city that never sleeps.”

In China, about 400 to 500 yuan (70,000 to 80,000 KRW) per person is spent on night tourism, with high demand for night performances and night views. During the Lunar New Year period, the night tourism experience rate is about 92%.

▶ Reasons for Focusing on Night Tourism

The reason for focusing on night tourism lies in changes in lifestyle. The increase of ‘night-type humans’ who play, exercise, and enjoy cultural life at night has led to increased late-night consumption.

It is also an effective countermeasure against the continuous decrease in per capita tourism expenditure. By increasing the length of stay, it can raise the occupancy rate of accommodation facilities, promote commercial activities, and expand employment that has shrunk due to COVID-19. On the other hand, it also enhances the image of a growing city.

The charm of night tourism is that it expands the limited daytime hours and satisfies various needs that cannot be experienced during the day. Looking at types of night tourism, facility-dependent types include observatory towers, art galleries, and museum visits; scenic viewing types include night views, fireworks, and night festivals.

Experience activity types include performances, concerts, night markets, cultural heritage night tours, and city tours; entertainment types include karaoke, nightclubs, indoor sports, and saunas.

The government is also developing night contents.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been fostering traditional market night market projects since 2013.

Representative examples include Bupyeong Canned Night Market, Jeonju Nambu Night Market, and Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market. The Korea Tourism Organization also selected the ‘Top 100 Night Tourism Spots’ last April.

▶ Suncheon Gaining Attention Due to COVID-19

The tourism industry is facing another change due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

There is an increasing preference for domestic short-distance travel over overseas travel, and outdoor activities over close-contact, enclosed indoor spaces, leading to increased demand for leisure and camping.

People are seeking clean areas that are nature-friendly and safe from COVID-19 while enjoying everyday tourism with their families.

Suncheon City is a representative ecological and cultural tourism city visited by more than 10 million people annually.

Suncheonman National Garden and Suncheonman Bay Wetland are the top outdoor ecological tourist sites, with 6.18 million visitors excluding playground facilities, according to a survey conducted last year by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute on major tourist spots nationwide.

Additionally, Waon Beach, famous for its beautiful sunset, is popular for camping and car camping, while Songgwangsa Temple, Seonamsa Temple, and Nagan Eupseong Fortress are steadily visited as healing tourism destinations.

Although the number of tourists sharply decreased by 62% to 3.124 million as of October this year due to unexpected COVID-19, with the transition to social distancing level 1, about 6,000 people visit Suncheonman Wetland on weekdays and about 20,000 on weekends.

It is expected that in the future, due to pent-up tourism demand, expectations for vaccine development, and changed tourism trends caused by COVID-19, local cities like Suncheon, which offer clean, healing, and family travel, will be preferred.

▶ Suncheon City’s Night Tourism Activation Policy

Suncheon City is diversifying night contents to activate stay tourism in line with the increasing demand for night tourism and the with-COVID-19 era.

First, there is the Suncheonman National Garden and Dongcheon Nightscape Project, which has been promoted since 2018.

For the night opening of Suncheonman National Garden, nightscape lighting was installed around the east and west gates and WWT wetland, and nightscape lighting was installed on Dongcheon bridges and cherry blossom walking paths extending 6 km from Dream Bridge to Suspension Bridge and Yongdanggyo Bridge.

Next year, five uninstalled bridges and additional cherry blossom walking paths will be installed.

Near Suncheonman National Garden, a 245,000㎡ living forest and multipurpose plaza will be created in the Dongcheon retention basin.

The multipurpose plaza will host a night market and flea market. Suncheon City believes that placing the night market in an outdoor forest will overcome the density and enclosure of night markets that were previously located inside traditional markets.

Scheduled to open in March next year, preparations are underway for selecting food truck operators, waste disposal for creating a clean night market, using eco-friendly containers, and installing infrastructure for sewage treatment.

The Dongcheon Nightscape Project and nearby night market creation are key spaces and projects to guide tourists who visit the national garden and wetland to the downtown area.

Next year, night experience contents will also be operated through a project contest to revitalize the drama filming site.

In addition to the cultural heritage night tour held annually on Culture Street, Suncheon will produce representative cultural contents.

During the upcoming ‘2023 Expo’ period, the goal is to have permanent performances, and currently, work themes are being solicited.

For stay tourism, accommodation facilities that allow overnight stays are crucial.

Suncheon City aims to attract small-scale family hotels rather than large-scale hotels.

They are developing lifestyle stay products such as living for a month, rural experiences, temple stays, and forest experiences, and are also considering second houses or long-term rental plans for long-term stay travelers.

For those who enjoy outdoor leisure life, camping and car camping will also be expanded.

Suncheon City plans to increase night attractions, entertainment, and food to enhance the connectivity between night tourism and daytime tourism.

Through this, the strategy is to increase the length of stay and induce tourist consumption to revitalize the local economy.

In the movie “Midnight in Paris,” the protagonist Gil Pender rides a carriage on the streets of Paris when the clock strikes midnight.

The carriage takes Gil back to 1920s Paris, where he meets artists such as Hemingway, Picasso, and Dal?.

Although ‘Midnight in Suncheon’ may not take us to the golden age of art, we look forward to the day when it will tell the beauty of life with those who are here, now, and together.

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