'Training Camp Mecca' Jeonnam... 840,000 Visitors Across 62 Sports

15% Increase Year-on-Year... Regional Economic Impact of 80.1 Billion Won
Successful Hosting of National Sports Festival and Increased Awareness Play a Role

The fencing team training intensively during their training camp in Jeonnam. Provided by Jeonnam Province.

The reputation of Jeonnam as the "Mecca of Training Camps" continued this year as well.

Jeollanam-do announced that from September last year to August this year, a total of 840,000 people (62 sports, 2,436 teams) visited Jeonnam for the 2024 season training camps and sports competitions. The regional economic ripple effect alone reached 80.1 billion KRW.

This is a 15% increase compared to the number of visitors last season (730,000). The rise in visitors is attributed to the successful hosting of the National Sports Festival and the National Youth Sports Festival recently, which significantly boosted Jeonnam’s recognition as the optimal location for training camps.

The main sports for training camps were soccer, baseball, basketball, badminton, and taekwondo, accounting for 53% of all hosted sports. By region, the order of visitors was Gyeonggi, Seoul, Gwangju, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk.

To attract training camps, cities and counties are implementing various support policies with their own budgets of 1.9 billion KRW, including reductions in public sports facility usage fees, issuance of local love gift certificates, support for accommodation, meals, snacks, transportation, provision of sports equipment, tourism experience support, and subsidies for stove league hosting costs.

In fact, Gangjin County, lacking one gymnasium to host a nationwide fencing competition, collaborated with Jangheung County on a joint project and successfully attracted the "21st Korea Middle and High School Fencing Federation Championship," an unprecedented event at the county level with about 3,000 athletes over five days.

Additionally, Haenam County operated a winter training rehabilitation center free of charge with five professional trainers on site, serving 1,600 users, while Wando County supported free experience programs at its marine healing center, including underwater exercise and hydro massage, attracting 43 teams and 870 people.

Training camp athletes, competition participants, and their families use restaurants, accommodations, marts, and tourist sites while staying in Jeonnam, creating a living population effect that revitalizes the local economy.

Joo Soon-seon, Director of the Tourism and Sports Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, "In a situation where the risk of local extinction is increasing, securing a living population is the top priority for revitalizing the regional economy. We will inject vitality into Jeonnam through attracting training camps and further strengthen sports tourism promotion."

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