Songpa-gu Jamsil Tourism Special Zone Selected as 'Top Grade' for Two Consecutive Years

Seoul City-Led Tourism Special Zone Evaluation Awarded 'Top Excellence' Grade, Secures 100 Million KRW... Linked with International Exchange Complex District Development, Promoted as Tourist Attraction

Fallen Leaves Festival

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) secured 100 million KRW in city funds as Jamsil Tourism Special Zone received the highest grade for the second consecutive year in the ‘Tourism Special Zone Revitalization Project Evaluation’ conducted by Seoul City.

This evaluation is conducted annually by Seoul City under the Tourism Promotion Act to foster representative tourist attractions, examining whether the requirements for designation as a tourism special zone are met and reviewing project performance.

The evaluation targets six tourism special zones across five autonomous districts: Songpa-gu, Yongsan-gu, Jung-gu (2 zones), Jongno-gu, and Gangnam-gu. Grades are assigned to each zone based on the results, and subsidies are allocated accordingly.

In 2012, Songpa-gu was the first in the Gangnam area to designate the Jamsil area as the ‘Jamsil Tourism Special Zone,’ which includes Lotte World, Seokchon Lake, Bangi Matgol, and Olympic Park.

Despite the COVID-19 situation last year, the district received high marks for developing content and building infrastructure to attract foreign tourists in various ways.

Events such as the ‘Seokchon Lake Autumn Foliage & Fallen Leaves Festival’ held for residents weary from COVID-19, a vlog contest introducing Songpa’s tourist attractions, and online Korean cooking classes for foreign tourists attracted significant attention.

Additionally, the district linked the Songpa Dullegil Trail, a core project of the 7th local government administration, with the Jamsil Tourism Special Zone to provide safe, short-distance travel experiences aligned with the latest tourism trends.

With the subsidy secured this time, the district plans to revitalize the stagnant tourism market by improving walking tour course programs, hosting an expanded Autumn Foliage & Fallen Leaves Festival along the Songpa Dullegil Trail, offering cooking classes for foreigners, and operating a Korean traditional musical instrument academy.

Furthermore, as part of the development of the International Exchange Complex District, the district is preparing plans to ensure that the upcoming Jamsil MICE complex project effectively revitalizes the local tourism industry.

Through the ‘Activation and Development Plan for the Sincheon Matgol to Olympic Park Area’ project, the district intends to organize the Olympic-ro area?including Jamsil Sports Complex, Sincheon Matgol, Lotte World, Seokchon Lake, and Olympic Park?into themed hubs and introduce diverse content.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “We have achieved the meaningful accomplishment of being selected as the top district for two consecutive years by diversifying tourism content in response to rapidly changing times. Moving forward, we will prepare for the recovery of the domestic and international tourism industry by concurrently implementing projects linked with the International Exchange Complex District to establish the Jamsil Tourism Special Zone as a world-renowned destination.”

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