May Tourism in Gangwon-do, 'Nature-Centered Tourist Destinations' Most Visited

Sharp Increase in Visits to Inje Seolpi Village (191%) and Yanggu Park Soo-keun Art Museum (99%)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Last month, tourists visiting Gangwon Province were found to have frequently visited nature-centered tourist destinations.

According to the Gangwon Tourism Foundation on the 30th, the analysis of tourism trends in Gangwon Province in May showed that the total number of tourists visiting the province, including both domestic and international visitors, was approximately 11.27 million. Visitors preferred outdoor safe tourist spots and regionally specialized tourist destinations or content.

Most of the major tourist sites (POI) that saw a 100% or more increase in visitors in April this year were nature tourism sites, with about 280,000 visitors recorded.

This indicates that tourists visiting Gangwon Province still largely seek nature-centered outdoor safe tourist spots.

Examples such as Inje Seolpi Village and the Pyeongchang Yongpyong Resort Observatory (Skywalk) confirmed that nature itself is a unique and rare tourism resource exclusive to Gangwon Province.

Additionally, through the example of the Yanggu Park Soo-keun Art Museum, it was found that killer content, such as the special exhibition of donated works by the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was a major cause of increased local visitors and had a positive effect on visits to nearby tourist attractions.

By city and county, Pyeongchang County had the highest month-on-month increase in tourists at about 36.5%, followed by Jeongseon County, Inje County, Goseong County, and Yangyang County.

On the other hand, a decrease was observed only in Donghae City (2.4%), which was mainly attributed to a decline in visitors to Mukho Port and the East Sea Central Market (an average decrease of 29%).

The largest number of tourists departed from Namyangju City in Gyeonggi Province, with about 310,000 visitors, followed by Songpa-gu and Gangnam-gu in Seoul, and Bundang-gu in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province.

Notably, from January to May this year, for the first time, the monthly number of visitors from all top 20 departure locations exceeded 100,000. This is analyzed as a sign that the scale of tourists coming from outside is gradually stabilizing.

In terms of tourism consumption, there was an increase of about 19.6 billion KRW, a 13.7% rise compared to April this year, reaching a total consumption scale of approximately 162.4 billion KRW.

Among total consumption, food expenditure was the highest at 110 billion KRW, showing an increase of about 14% or 14 billion KRW compared to last April. Tourism consumption followed in the order of accommodation, leisure, and transportation.

Jung Tae-hoon, head of the Smart Tourism Team, stated, "This tourism trend analysis has become data verification of the competitiveness of outdoor safe tourist spots and content specialized in Gangwon Province."

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