More People Visiting Mountains in Gyeonggi-do After COVID-19 Pandemic

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Since the outbreak of COVID-19, indoor activities have been restricted, leading to a significant increase in the number of people visiting major mountains in Gyeonggi-do, according to a recent survey.

Gyeonggi-do announced on the 28th that it obtained these results by analyzing visitor trends and visit types at 50 major mountains in the province based on mobile population data from the telecommunications company KT.

The analysis showed that the cumulative number of visitors to the 50 mountains increased by 4.9%, from 382.05 million in 2019 to 407.7 million in 2020. Among them, visitors aged 60 and over rose markedly by 18.3%, from 63.41 million to 75.02 million.

Nearby mountains such as Namhansan (Gwangju and Hanam), Achasan (Guri), Gwanggyosan (Suwon), and Geomdansan (Hanam) saw visitor increases of over 7%, while mountains in outlying areas experienced only slight increases of around 1%.

The province analyzed that this was because public facilities and indoor rest areas were restricted due to COVID-19, prompting many to visit nearby mountains that could be accessed easily.

Over the past year, Gwanggyosan recorded the highest number of visitors at 52.92 million, followed by Surisan in Anyang and Gunpo (41.67 million), Bulgoksan in Seongnam (25.32 million), Cheonmasan in Namyangju (20.83 million), and Dodeoksan in Gwangmyeong (19.39 million).

Based on the analysis, the province categorized the mountains into hiking-type, river/stream-type, and camping-type, with river/stream-type mountains featuring valleys showing an approximately 15% increase in visitors.

The province plans to utilize the analysis results by type for various policies such as facility maintenance, environmental cleanup, and tourism promotion.

Jeon Seung-hyun, head of the Data Policy Division of the province, stated, "The data confirmed that many people sought out forests to avoid COVID-19," adding, "We will continue to apply practical analysis results from various fields to carry out scientific provincial administration."

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