Gangwon East Coast Beaches Closed... 37.5% Increase in Visitors Compared to Last Year

4.98 Million Visitors in 52 Days... Gangneung, Donghae, Yangyang ↓, Sokcho, Samcheok, Goseong ↑
Analysis of Promotional Effects on 'Natural Tourist Sites' and 'Gangwon-do Clean' Image

Sokcho Beach [Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] On the 29th, with the closure of the beaches in Gangneung and Sokcho, six cities and counties along the East Coast ended the 52-day summer beach operation this year.

According to the Gangwon Province East Coast Headquarters on the 30th, the number of beach visitors in Gangwon Province this year was 4.98 million, a 37.5% increase compared to last year, which is an unusual phenomenon nationwide amid a decrease in tourists due to COVID-19.

The increase in beach visitors in Gangwon Province is analyzed to be influenced by the fact that beaches are outdoor natural tourist destinations and the clean image of "Gangwon-do" helped attract tourists.

Among the six cities and counties along the East Coast, Gangneung, Donghae, and Yangyang, which have many famous beaches, saw a decrease in visitors compared to last year, while Sokcho, Samcheok, and Goseong, which have many lesser-known beaches in the northern region, saw an increase.

In particular, Goseong saw about 1.8 million visitors, a 732% increase from last year, which is analyzed as a balloon effect due to the elevation of social distancing to level 4 in Gangneung and Yangyang and the promotion of Goseong’s quiet beach image.

Meanwhile, this year’s operation of Gangwon Province beaches, the second since the COVID-19 era, applied various policies such as a reservation system, distribution of temperature stickers, safe call service, and space partitioning to prevent large-scale spread.

Gangwon Province East Coast Headquarters expects that many tourists will continue to visit the beaches even after closure, so the six cities and counties along the East Coast plan to deploy water safety personnel at major beaches for about a week after closure to manage safety and guide quarantine rules.

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