The South Korean government is connecting diverse personal tastes and lifestyles with hidden local resources across the country. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, along with the Korea Tourism Organization, announced that from June 29 to July 10, a public voting initiative will take place to identify national landmarks based on recommendations from travel journalists and writers. This initiative is called the '100X100 Project for National Landmark Discovery.'
This project, which has been in planning since early this year, marks a departure from the previous approach of unilaterally designating landmarks by the government. Instead, it allows the public to choose from 100 themes suggested by 100 travel experts, ultimately creating a customized map of 10,000 local landmarks.
◆ Moving Beyond Major Landmarks to Redefine Local Tourism
Past initiatives, such as the '100 Best Korean Tourist Attractions,' have primarily focused on well-known landmarks and natural scenery. Critics argue that this approach fails to capture the latest travel trends of hyper-personalization and local orientation.
To break away from this landmark-centric structure, the project enlisted the insights of 100 travel journalists, writers, and local tourism experts. It has expanded the classification system beyond just food and nature to include eight major categories, each with 100 detailed themes.
The proposed candidates include keywords closely related to everyday trends, such as 100 local rice soup and hangover soup spots, 100 barefoot walking locations, 100 pet-friendly travel spots, 100 dessert explorations for millennials, and 100 places ideal for relaxation.
Additionally, themes aimed at attracting foreign tourists, such as K-pop pilgrimage sites and vintage fashion hotspots, have also been included. This initiative goes beyond merely introducing spaces; it connects travelers' spending habits with local niche resources, broadening the definition of landmarks to include everyday experiences.
◆ Citizens Fill in the Hidden Gems with Their Votes
The project culminates in public participation. Under 100 tailored themes, 100 local spots will be connected, resulting in a comprehensive map of 10,000 unique preferences across South Korea.
The voting page will be accessible on the online platforms 'Discover Korea' and 'Traveling Moon,' allowing anyone to participate without any limit on the number of votes. To encourage participation, attractive prizes, including a mobile television and dining vouchers worth 300,000 won, will be offered.
For themes with relatively weak infrastructure or high scarcity, such as 100 places mentioned in songs, 100 emotional train stations, and 100 campus tours, a space will be provided for the public to suggest and fill in their own hidden gems.
◆ Encouraging On-Site Visits to Support Local Economies
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism aims to use the 10,000 discovered landmarks not as one-time exhibition content but as a catalyst for revitalizing local economies.
Targeting niche consumer groups with distinct preferences, the project will continuously operate a 'stamp tour' event that certifies actual visits to various themes, rewarding participants with souvenirs based on the number of visits. Furthermore, collaborations with influencers in various fields will be employed to maintain consistent online visibility for local landmarks.
Kang Jeong-won, Director of the Tourism Policy Office at the Ministry, stated, "This project will reduce the dilemma travelers face in making choices while raising the quality of local travel experiences. We hope it will expand the focus of foreign tourists, who have been concentrated in Seoul and the metropolitan area, to the micro-spaces of local regions, helping to overcome the crisis of regional extinction and enhance the self-sustainability of local economies."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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