Gyeongju Takes Part in Korea Travel Expo 2011, Visitors Excited
For the past four days, the city of Gyeongju has been participating in the Korea Travel Expo 2011 at Seoul COEX. The event runs from February 24thto27th.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Travel Expo 2011 is being managed by the Korea Tourism Association. The opening ceremony was held on February 24th. The expo features contributions from 350 organizations and local governments. It is hoped that the expo will stimulate demand for domestic travel, which would in turn vitalize local economies.
Eleven cities and counties from Gyeonsangbuk-do are participating together in the expo. They are promoting regional festivals, experience programs and providing travel ination. Gyeongju City, the Gyeongju World Culture Expo and the Kyongbuk Tourism Development Corporation are participating together at six booths at the event.
At the expo, Gyeongju City is concentrating on promoting the Wolseong/Namsan District and Yangdong Folk Village, which has been designated a World Heritage Site. These two areas are two of the Korea Tour Eight Wonders. The Korea Tour Eight Wonders were recently chosen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the eight “must-see” places in Korea, and were featured in a Photo Zone that was very popular with expo visitors.
Gyeongju City is promoting various local festivals and events, such as the Gyeongju Liquor and Rice Cake Festival, the Cherry Blossom Marathon, and the Gyeongju World Culture Expo, providing visitors with tour and promotional materials, and showing promotional videos. In particular, visitors have very much enjoyed making golden paper crowns and seeing the model of the Gyeongju Tower. At the tower model, expo visitors have had a chance to win a prize. Two people push buttons which light up LED lights on the tower model, and the person whose lights race to the top of the tower first is declared the winner. This has been a big hit, particularly with children.
An official from Gyeongju City said, “This event is the biggest of its kind because so many tourists and travel industry representatives are gathered together. Therefore, we want to aggressively promote our city and create in peoples mind the idea that they would not only really like to visit Gyeongju, but that they would want to visit again and again.”
One visitor to the expo said, “We all have memories of Gyeongju in our mind. Also, we have seen Gyeongju on television, in dramas and other programs. Because of what Ive seen at this expo, Ive realized that Gyeongju has many attractions, that we can visit the city by KTX; now I want to visit Gyeongju again, and create new memories.”
