This Year, Palace and Joseon Royal Tombs Visitors Near 15 Million

The number of visitors to palaces and Joseon royal tombs this year nearly reached 15 million.

Foreign tourists wearing hanbok are visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace while touring Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

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The Cultural Heritage Administration's Office of Palaces and Royal Tombs announced on the 19th that 14.89 million people had visited by the end of last month. This is an increase of 520,000 from last year's 14.37 million. Approximately 20% of the visitors, or 2.99 million, were foreigners, marking a 49% increase from last year's 2.01 million.

This achievement was made by encouraging visits through sixteen palace and tomb utilization programs. With a budget of 22.6 billion KRW, events such as the 'Royal Culture Festival,' 'Joseon Royal Tomb Festival,' 'Gyeongbokgung Starlight Night Tour,' 'Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour,' 'Gyeongbokgung Saenggwabang,' and 'Deoksugung Night at the Stone Hall' were planned and operated. A total of 6.89 million visitors participated in these programs, accounting for about 46% of all visitors.

The Cultural Heritage Administration estimated, "The production inducement effect amounted to 472.1 billion KRW, the value-added inducement effect was 177.4 billion KRW, and 3,573 jobs were created." The production inducement effect refers to the increase in production in other industries resulting directly from increased production in a particular industry. The value-added inducement effect is the new income and profits generated through economic activities, and the employment creation effect refers to the number of jobs created by specific economic activities. Compared to last year, the growth rates were 31.4%, 42.9%, and 37.7%, respectively.

Foreign tourists dressed in hanbok are touring Seoul and visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

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The program that attracted the most visitors was the Royal Culture Festival held at the Five Grand Palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, Gyeonghuigung) and Jongmyo Shrine. In spring (April-May), it drew 350,000 visitors, and in autumn (October), 330,000 visitors.

The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, "By selling tickets through global platforms such as Klook and Creatrip and significantly expanding programs exclusively for foreigners, the number of sales of the Palace Pass (special admission ticket), which allows free access to palaces, increased tenfold from 969 last year to 9,772 this year."

The participatory Hanbok program was also evaluated as an effective catalyst. The Cultural Heritage Administration offers free admission to palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and Joseon royal tombs for visitors wearing Hanbok. To promote this further this year, events such as 'Gyeongbokgung Hanbok Yeonhyang,' which includes traditional Korean music and experiences, and 'Gyeongbokgung Sanguiwon,' where participants can make Hanbok accessories themselves, were held. The Cultural Heritage Administration stated, "'Hanbok Life' has been designated as a national intangible cultural heritage, and we plan to expand participatory programs further."

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