Goyang City Adds K-Pop to the City of Flowers... Active Renovation of the Tourism Special Zone

Goyang Tourism Special Zone Winter Festival 'K-pop Kkotpop Goyang'... Held from 20th to 31st
Ilsan Culture Square Transformed into Christmas Village... K-pop Performances to Warm the Cold
Goyang Tourism Information Center Strengthens Tourism Hub Functions... Promotes Attraction of Foreign Tourists

Goyang Special City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Dong-hwan) is in full preparation for the newly launched Christmas festival this winter, ‘K-pop Kkotpop Goyang.’ Ilsan Culture Plaza is being newly transformed into a Christmas village where K-pop and flowers harmonize, and the Goyang Tourism Information Center is expanding its comprehensive tourism convenience services and strengthening its role as a tourism special zone hub.

Indoor view of Goyang Tourism Information Center. Provided by Goyang Special City

This year, Goyang City was selected in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s tourism special zone revitalization contest and received 150 million KRW in national and local government funding to promote the ‘K-pop Kkotpop Goyang’ project. Centered on Goyang’s representative themes of ‘flowers’ and ‘K-pop,’ the plan includes △improvements to the exterior and interior functions of the Goyang Tourism Information Center △creation of a Christmas village and K-pop performances to overcome the winter off-season △and establishment of a photo spot centered on Ilsan Culture Plaza.

The Christmas festival ‘K-pop Kkotpop Goyang’ will be held for 12 days from the 20th to the 31st. The festival begins at the Goyang Tourism Information Center near Jeongbalsan Station. Upon entering indoors, visitors are greeted by a Christmas tree and decorations, and at Goya Cafe, non-alcoholic mulled wine called ‘Bangsyo’?made by boiling fruit with cinnamon and other spices?is served alongside cookies to warm visitors up.

Additionally, a Christmas market selling handmade craft items to enhance the festive atmosphere is prepared. The exterior wall features a media facade illuminated with flower lights bursting like popcorn, combined with K-content to captivate tourists.

Ilsan Culture Plaza. Provided by Goyang Special City

Starting with a spectacular lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. on the 20th, a unique Christmas village surrounding the Independence Movement Memorial Tower at the center of Ilsan Culture Plaza will be illuminated. The Christmas village, equipped with lighting and photo zones, will be a photo spot targeting the MZ generation every night until 10 p.m., themed around flowers, K-content, and traditional Korean wave culture.

To revitalize the surrounding shopping streets, a collaborative Christmas zone will be created where visitors can participate by presenting receipts from restaurants, cafes, and shops within the Goyang Tourism Special Zone from the same day. Around Ilsan Culture Plaza, a Goyang (GOYANG) lettering bench will be installed, becoming a popular spot where anyone can take commemorative photos and rest.

Especially on the 24th and 25th, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization will hold the K-pop cultural performance ‘Gyeonggi-do Cultural Seasons "Winter" Concert’ linked with K-pop Kkotpop Goyang at Ilsan Culture Plaza. Starting at 7 p.m., various performers including dance, vocal, and band acts will perform against a backdrop of dazzling winter night lights, heating up the year-end atmosphere.

Goyang lettering bench planned to be created at Ilsan Culture Plaza. Provided by Goyang Special City

The Goyang Tourism Special Zone, designated in 2015, is a 3.94㎢ area connecting major tourist attractions in Ilsan Dong-gu and Seo-gu such as KINTEX and Ilsan Lake Park, themed around the Korean Wave (Hallyu). Tourism special zones are designated in areas with over 100,000 foreign tourists annually and sufficient tourism demand; currently, there are 35 nationwide and 5 in Gyeonggi Province.

The Goyang Tourism Special Zone is home to KINTEX, the largest exhibition and convention center in Korea, and serves as a hub for the MICE industry with concentrated broadcasting facilities. Tourist attractions such as Ilsan Lake Park, where the Goyang International Flower Festival is held, Ilsan Culture Plaza with year-round festivals like the Makgeolli Festival and Goyang Lake Arts Festival, and commercial areas like La Festa and Western Dom continue to attract visitors steadily.

Although it experienced a downturn due to COVID-19, the area has rapidly regained vitality recently, led by tourists visiting KINTEX, thanks to the city’s policies to revitalize MICE and performance infrastructure. According to big data from the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of foreign visitors to the Goyang Tourism Special Zone has recovered to over 78% of pre-COVID levels, from about 200,000 annually before the pandemic to approximately 160,000 as of November.

Status of Designation as Goyang Tourism Special Zone. Provided by Goyang Special City

Opened in 2020, the Goyang Tourism Information Center faced operational difficulties due to COVID-19 but is now actively strengthening its role as a tourism hub. It offers △a tourism information desk △Goya Cafe △traveler’s book rest area △video production space △brand souvenir shop △traveler’s locker, serving as a complex cultural space for tourists.

In the first half of the year, it introduced event products such as flower photo zones and picnic equipment rentals in connection with the Goyang International Flower Festival and started a venue rental service for local cultural artists. As of October, the number of visitors reached 43,000, increasing by more than 15% daily on average, and annual visitors are expected to hit a record high.

The city aims to boost pure tourism demand in areas like Ilsan Lake Park, La Festa, and Western Dom, where tourist recovery is about half of pre-COVID levels, through this contest project. By revitalizing the section from the Goyang Tourism Information Center to Ilsan Culture Plaza and preparing diverse tourism content, it is expected to create a synergy effect by encouraging foreign tourists who come to KINTEX to engage in tourism activities within the tourism special zone.

Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang Special City, attending the Korea International Tourism Expo last year. Photo by Goyang Special City

Mayor Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang said, “Through the ‘K-pop Kkotpop Goyang’ project, the city of flowers, Goyang, will gain new competitiveness as a tourist destination,” and added, “I hope that Ilsan Culture Plaza, connecting the Goyang Tourism Information Center and Ilsan Lake Park, will become a new symbol of the Goyang Tourism Special Zone, like European plazas that serve as platforms for culture, arts, and performances.”

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