Haenam-gun, Proactive Response and 'Thorough Quarantine' to Revitalize Sports Marketing

Catching Two Birds with One Stone: Safety and Local Economy Revitalization through Enhanced Quarantine Manual

A temperature check is being conducted to enter the stadium. (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam County, Jeollanam-do, is leading the revitalization of the local economy through steady sports marketing to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

According to the county on the 29th, including this winter season, about 31,000 athletes visited Haenam through training camps and national competitions held last year.

Although this figure has decreased to about 15% compared to the annual 195,000 visitors before the outbreak of COVID-19, the county has been conducting flexible sports marketing attraction activities in accordance with government quarantine guidelines.

In particular, considering that the economic inducement effect on accommodations, restaurants, and other sectors through sports marketing has decreased by more than 10 billion KRW, causing huge losses to the local economy, various sports competitions have been resumed this year.

In fact, after the spread of COVID-19 last year, some lodging facilities in the Daheungsa tourist complex did not rent out even a single room for several months, and restaurants, which are major customers of nationwide competitions and training teams, reduced their workforce, causing severe damage to local small business owners, leading to continuous demands from residents for the resumption of sports marketing.

Additionally, demands from sports organizations responsible for athletes’ advancement to universities and livelihood, such as university entrance exams and representative player selection, have continued, making it important to build trust from now on to revitalize sports marketing after the end of COVID-19.

Accordingly, Haenam County has established a special COVID-19 quarantine team applying a quarantine manual that is stricter than the government’s COVID-19 guidelines, ensuring thorough safety measures for holding competitions through multiple stages of quarantine.

All athletes visiting Haenam County must submit a fever check report starting two weeks prior and undergo a COVID-19 test within 72 hours before arrival, submitting a negative test result to participate in competitions held within Haenam County.

In particular, all individuals entering the competition venue undergo two rounds of basic testing and are continuously monitored for any abnormalities. Competitions are held without spectators, and enforcement is strengthened to ensure compliance with quarantine guidelines even after competition hours.

Thanks to such thorough quarantine measures, during the 59th National Spring Badminton League held on the 16th, one COVID-19 positive case was quickly identified, and despite about 600 participants, the competition concluded without any additional infections.

Haenam County’s proactive response has been praised by quarantine authorities to the extent that it established a model manual for COVID-19 response guidelines related to sports competitions.

The county plans to operate the 32nd National Modern Pentathlon Competition and the 50th National Youth Sports Festival, scheduled for June, as safe events in accordance with strict quarantine guidelines.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan said, “We plan to implement double and triple quarantine rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through national competitions and will operate only competitions that agree to the quarantine rules on a limited basis. We ask for much cooperation in sports competitions that will serve as a foundation for revitalizing the local economy, which is struggling with livelihood difficulties, and for attracting sports marketing after COVID-19.”

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