Seoul Botanic Park Surpasses 10 Million Visitors in Two and a Half Years Since Opening

Visitor Numbers in March This Year Increased 3.6 Times Compared to Same Period Last Year... Continued Guidance on Quarantine and Social Distancing Maintained

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 14th that the cumulative number of visitors to Seoul Botanic Park, which was temporarily opened in October 2018, has exceeded 10 million. In March of this year alone, 550,000 people visited, with an average of 18,000 visitors per day.

The total number combines visitors to both the free and paid sections (park and botanic garden). An artificial intelligence (AI) visitor selection system was applied to 15 CCTV cameras installed at major entrances, counting only people entering, operating 24 hours a day. As of April, the cumulative number of visitors to Seoul Botanic Park reached 10.04 million, surpassing 1 million visitors within two months of the temporary opening and exceeding 10 million visitors in just 30 months.

During the six months of temporary opening (October 2018 to April 2019), 2.56 million people visited. The month with the highest number of visitors so far was October 2020, with 600,000 visitors in one month. The paid section, 'Theme Garden (greenhouse and themed garden),' opened on May 1, 2019, and has attracted a total of 680,000 visitors to date. Especially after the spread of COVID-19, the number of visitors to the outdoor park section increased significantly, with March this year seeing a 3.6-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

Seoul City plans to further strengthen disinfection measures for indoor and outdoor facilities, considering the continuous increase in visitors to Seoul Botanic Park, while continuously encouraging mask-wearing and social distancing within the park. The indoor facility, the greenhouse, has been operating with an admission limit of about 30% of its capacity (200 people) since January to ensure sufficient social distancing during visits.

Seoul Botanic Park will hold an advisory meeting at the end of April to review its performance over the past two years and to establish long-term development plans to become the top botanic garden in Korea. Experts from various fields such as landscaping, botany, and facility management will gather to conduct a comprehensive review of the botanic garden’s operation system and facilities, and also to establish customized disinfection measures in preparation for the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Han Jeong-hoon, director of Seoul Botanic Park, said, "Through diverse plant exhibitions, education, plant research and species conservation, and specialized program operations, we will fulfill our role as a public botanic garden by presenting a desirable operational model for domestic botanic and arboretum facilities and spreading plant culture in daily life."

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