Imsil-gun, Cheese Festival and Okjeongho Popular... Record High Number of Tourists

The 2023 Imsil N Cheese Festival has broken the record for the highest number of tourists ever, and with countless visitors flocking to Okjeongho Suspension Bridge and Bungeo Island Ecological Park, County Governor Shim Min's strong leadership for 'Ten Million Tourism Imsil' is being reappraised.

According to the county on the 11th, Shim Min, who first became the governor of Imsil County in 2014, is serving his 10th year in office this year as the first three-term governor in the history of Imsil County. He is praised for proving how important administrative continuity is, such as in the development of tourist sites.

In fact, with Governor Shim's three consecutive terms, he has realized his vision of 'Ten Million Tourism Imsil,' rapidly transforming this small rural area with a population of 30,000, once a tourism desert, into a nationally recognized tourist destination.

The Imsil N Cheese Festival, held from the 6th to the 9th, attracted approximately 559,500 visitors nationwide over the four-day festival period, setting an all-time record high.

Even after the festival ended, numerous tourists continue to visit to see the chrysanthemum flower displays and Korean asters decorating the Cheese Theme Park and Cheese Village area.

The Imsil N Cheese Festival began in 2015, the year after Governor Shim took office, with about 100,000 visitors?roughly five times the entire population of Imsil County. By 2019, the number had grown to about 430,000, and after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, it surged to approximately 520,000 last year.

When Governor Shim took office, the cheese festival was just a small neighborhood event held at the public sports ground. However, he relocated the festival to the Cheese Theme Park and Cheese Village and began developing it into a representative festival themed around cheese.

Attractions included chrysanthemum flower displays, and food offerings featured cheese, clean Imsil native beef, and local food halls utilizing 12 town and township women's associations.

At that time, Governor Shim and the public officials who first planned the cheese festival recalled, "The governor meticulously managed everything from start to finish, benchmarking other regional festivals like the Gokseong Rose Festival and immediately incorporating good ideas. He truly worked like a practitioner."

Thus, the Imsil N Cheese Festival has evolved and developed year by year, in line with Governor Shim's terms in office.

Governor Shim ambitiously promoted the construction of the Okjeongho Suspension Bridge and Bungeo Island Ecological Park as another major pillar for realizing Ten Million Tourism Imsil.

Bungeo Island, once an unknown island that could only be viewed from afar and was almost a barren land, is now accessible by crossing a 420-meter-long suspension bridge and has become very popular with its colorful seasonal flowers and trees.

During the Chuseok holiday and the cheese festival period alone, about 80,000 tourists visited, creating a huge crowd. Since its opening, 700,000 tourists have visited, making it a treasure of Jeollabuk-do and a nationally popular tourist destination.

During the cheese festival, there is a synergistic effect as festival visitors visit Okjeongho, and Okjeongho tourists visit the Cheese Theme Park.

Governor Shim Min said, "Imsil County is now leaping forward as a tourism hub rather than a tourism desert. Along with the Imsil Cheese Festival and Okjeongho tourism, I will devote all my efforts during the remainder of my term to developing it into a tourism blue chip linked with Seongsusan Mountain and Osu Gyeon."

Imsil = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Nosik baekok@asiae.co.kr

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