Gurye-gun Invests 43.2 Billion KRW to Attract 1 Million Tourists to Hwaeomsa Area

Healing Tourism, Animal Welfare, Commercial Regeneration... Creating a 'Healing Mecca'
Selected for Public Contest, Attracting Institutional Projects... Public-Private Cooperation Governance is Key

Autumn Scenery of Hwaeomsa Temple (Provided by Gurye-gun)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yuk Mi-seok] Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim Soon-ho) announced on the 26th that it will invest a total of 43.2 billion KRW to actively promote the revitalization of the Hwaeomsa area with the goal of attracting 1 million tourists.

Gurye-gun revealed that seven projects totaling 43.2 billion KRW have been confirmed: the Hwaeom 4-Color Blue Tour Project with 10 billion KRW, Jirisan Wildflower Garden with 4.3 billion KRW, Asiatic Black Bear Sanctuary with 10 billion KRW, Seomjingang Food Specialty Masiljang with 1.2 billion KRW, Jirisan Asiatic Black Bear Promotion Center with 15.2 billion KRW, and Hwaeomsa Collective Facility District Regeneration with 2.5 billion KRW.

The Hwaeomsa area is one of the central spots in the Gurye Tourism Special Zone, attracting about 400,000 visitors annually.

The county plans to develop the Hwaeomsa area into a place for healing and ecological learning with the goal of attracting 1 million tourists.

The Hwaeom 4-Color Blue Tour Project is a tourism belt project that connects Hwaeomsa, Hwaeom Shopping District, and Jirisan History and Culture Center by a circular tram, and creates pleasant walking trails and healing facilities between Hwaeom Shopping District and Hwaeomsa. Construction is scheduled to begin in July and be completed by December next year.

The Jirisan Wildflower Garden project involves creating a garden with wildflowers native to Jirisan over an area of 22,000㎡ around the Jirisan History and Culture Center, and installing various experience facilities such as rock climbing. Construction began in August 2019 and is planned to be completed by the end of this year.

Animal welfare will also be improved. The country's first Asiatic Black Bear Sanctuary will be established on a 24,000㎡ site in Hwangjeon-ri, Masan-myeon, with an investment of 10 billion KRW to build outdoor enclosures, breeding facilities, and medical facilities. The county was selected in this year's Ministry of Environment competition and plans to complete the project by 2024.

The county is also accelerating the sale of representative local foods with a total investment of 1.2 billion KRW. An idle building near Naengcheon Samgeori, the gateway to Jirisan, is being remodeled into a food specialty complex called ‘Seomjingang Food Specialty Masiljang.’

This project involves remodeling two existing buildings (four stores) and constructing a new 30-pyeong (second floor) building for local agricultural product sales and rest food services. Construction began in February and is scheduled to be completed by August.

The Korea National Park Service is also actively participating in revitalizing the Hwaeomsa area. They plan to build a 15.2 billion KRW Asiatic Black Bear Promotion Center as a place for ecological education and invest 2.5 billion KRW to transform the parking lot in the Hwaeomsa Collective Facility District into a customer-friendly carbon-neutral parking lot.

Since 2018, the county has established and operated a public-private governance system involving more than 20 organizations, including Hwaeomsa, the Korea National Park Service, and the Shopping District Promotion Association, to discover development strategies and ensure smooth progress in the Hwaeomsa area.

The county plans to continue discussing additional project discoveries with the public-private governance and reorganize various tourism infrastructures.

Kim Soon-ho, Governor of Gurye-gun, stated, “The Hwaeomsa area has strong momentum for attracting tourists recently due to the opening of Cheoneunsa Temple’s mountain gate and the airing of tvN’s Youn’s Stay. We will make the Hwaeomsa area a healing mecca through the establishment of healing and ecological tourism infrastructure and shopping district regeneration projects.”

Through active investment, the Hwaeomsa area is expected to play a central role in the Blue Tour, a strategic project of Jeollanam-do, and function as a regional tourism hub.

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