Boseong-gun Directly Managed Facilities Achieve Record High Visitors and Sales

Published 12 Jan.2024 13:43(KST)

Yulpo Sea Water Green Tea Center Sees 57% Increase in Visitors and 168% Growth in Sales Compared to Last Year

Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, which directly manages the ‘Yulpo Seawater Green Tea Center’ and ‘Botjae,’ announced that they achieved the highest number of visitors and the highest sales in 2023.

The ‘Yulpo Seawater Green Tea Center’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Green Tea Center’) recorded 220,000 visitors and revenue of 1.95 billion KRW in 2023, marking the highest number of visitors and sales since its opening in 2018.

Exterior view of Yulpo Sea Water Green Tea Center [Photo provided by Boseong County]

This represents a 157% increase in visitors and a 168% increase in revenue compared to 140,000 visitors and 1.16 billion KRW revenue in 2022.

The increase in visitors to the Green Tea Center has led to the revitalization of the commercial district around Yulpo Beach, contributing to the activation of the local economy within the jurisdiction.

The Green Tea Center, with a total floor area of 4,424㎡ over three above-ground floors, opened in September 2018. Visitors can enjoy seawater open-air baths while overlooking Yulpo Solbat Beach, using seawater drawn from a 120-meter underground bedrock layer infused with Boseong tea.

In addition, it is easy to access not only the Yulpo Solbat Beach area but also Boseong’s representative tourist attractions such as the tea fields, Botjae, the Korea Tea Museum, and Dahyang Art Valley.

‘Botjae’ had 100,000 visitors and revenue of 530 million KRW in 2023, showing a 125% increase in visitors and a 120% increase in revenue compared to 80,000 visitors and 440 million KRW in 2022.

The second-floor Greendahyang at Botjae sells over 40 types of beverages related to Boseong tea (茶), contributing to the revitalization of the local tea industry.

Also, the third-floor Boseong Ecological Experience Center at Botjae, which had been temporarily closed for four years, reopened as the ‘Empty’ exhibition hall with a concept of being in a dense forest through remodeling that maximizes the use of existing facilities, establishing itself as a distinctive relaxation space.

In particular, major events such as the Boseong Dahyang Grand Festival and the Boseong World Tea Expo, as well as autumn concerts and chrysanthemum bonsai exhibitions, have shown a significant effect on the increase in visitors last year.

The ‘Korea Tea Museum’ had 116,000 visitors and revenue of 66 million KRW in 2023. This is a 193% increase in visitors and a 140% increase in revenue compared to 60,000 visitors and 47 million KRW in 2022.

The Korea Tea Museum is highly regarded as a destination for school field trips nationwide and is popular not only for museum tours but also as a place for various educational and hands-on experiences such as tea ceremony education and tea making.

Especially, digital exhibitions targeting the younger generation (ages 10 to 30) are attracting interest through media art, 3D media videos, and a collection search screen (archive wall).

A Boseong-gun official said, “By connecting the tourism and cultural resources of Yulpo Seawater Green Tea Center, Botjae, Dahyang Art Valley, and Korea Tea Museum, we will lead vitality to Boseong’s tourism economy through the activation of Boseong’s history, culture, and tea (茶) industry by linking the Korea Tea Culture Park tourist district and the Yulpo Solbat Beach tourist district.”