The Charm of 'Small Town Travel' Discovered Directly by the MZ Generation

Selected as an Outstanding Work in the '2022 Youth Tourism Contest' for Planning Travel Courses in Population Decline Areas
Proposing Various Promotion and Improvement Plans to Revitalize Small City Tourism

2022 Youth Tourism Contest Excellence Award Ceremony Photo. Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 5th that it has finally selected five travel planning proposals from regions including Uljin, Gyeongbuk, as winners of the ‘2022 Youth Tourism Contest (Travel League)’ in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization.

The Youth Tourism Contest, now in its third year, was promoted to spread youth-led travel culture and content. This year, travel course planning proposals were accepted from 80 population-declining regions designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, excluding the metropolitan area and major cities.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism selected a total of five winning teams after presentations and on-site evaluations of 15 finalist teams: one grand prize winner (Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award), one excellence award winner, and three merit award winners (each receiving the president’s award from the Korea Tourism Organization).

The Korea Tourism Organization explained that the winning entries showcased diverse travel ideas preferred by the younger generation while highlighting the unique charm of small towns.

The grand prize-winning team ‘Eunhasu’ introduced the Hyeonjongsan Wind Power Plant in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, which was rebuilt as an eco-friendly wind power facility after forest damage caused by a wildfire in 2007, as a photogenic ‘hot place’ and recommended a ‘digital-analog balance trip’ minimizing smartphone use. The excellence award-winning team ‘Juksunideul’ designed an eco-friendly travel course in Damyang, Jeonnam, involving bicycle use and staying in accommodations repurposed from vacant houses, along with visits to local creator business sites.

Practical Travel Photo_Award of Excellence Addeukbadeuk Team - Gurye, Jeonnam. Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

The merit award-winning team ‘OMZ’ broke away from the traditional dark tourism using the DMZ by emphasizing the unique charms of Goseong, Gangwon, completing a travel course featuring military and leisure sports experiences and hidden photo spots that appeal to the MZ generation. Another merit award-winning team, ‘Haneulbaragi,’ proposed an SNS short-form challenge idea utilizing the unique Kim Satgat theme and star observation experience in Yeongwol, Gangwon. The third merit award-winning team, ‘Adeukbadeuk,’ expressed regret that youth population inflow measures in the population-declining region of Gurye, Jeonnam, mainly focus on returning to farming, and suggested attracting young entrepreneurs who plan regional experiences or programs using tourism.

Participating teams cited various unique experiences, restaurants cooking with local specialties, healing from tranquil nature, and hidden photo spot attractions as the charms of small-town travel. They valued experiences highly and did not hesitate to spend on them, actively expressing themselves by recording on SNS.

Proposals for revitalizing tourism reflecting the preferences of the MZ generation while pointing out the limitations of small-town travel also stood out. Examples include developing bus and taxi tours to overcome public transportation inconveniences, introducing public bicycle rental services, developing local goods that preserve memories of the region and travel, and SNS promotion of content favored by the MZ generation such as ‘hip’ cafes or shops that small towns might have.

The Korea Tourism Organization plans to hold a small-town travel product planning exhibition using the winning works in October and seek ways to revitalize small-town travel in cooperation with related local governments by recruiting participants for pilot tours.

Ahn Hyowon, head of the National Tourism Marketing Team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “This contest was a meaningful event to identify the needs of consumers, especially the younger generation, who are very interested in local small-town travel, and to discover tourism content that appeals to them. The various opinions presented by participants will be referenced when promoting projects to invigorate regional tourism, including in population-declining areas.”

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