Suncheon creates standards for future cities!

1.5 times more bookings for accommodation, 28.6 billion won sales, increased external consumption

Economic impact across the country, 1.6 trillion won in production, more than 25,000 people employed

Suncheonman International Garden Expo 2023 exceeded 5 million visitors in 84 days after opening on June 23. Less than three months after opening, the expo has reached 62.5% of its goal of 8 million visitors. Compared to 2013, which ended up attracting 4.4 million visitors, it broke records and generated 28.6 billion won in revenue (as of June 24). Ticket revenues, which accounted for the largest share, were KRW 18.1 billion, while food and beverage facilities such as restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores generated more than KRW 6.3 billion in sales. Other facility operations generated KRW 4.2 billion in revenue. The average weekend occupancy rate of the local hotels for January through March is 56.3%, with 86% in April and 88% in May since the fair opened, which is 1.5 times higher than before the fair opened. “Garden Stay-Shilange” achieved an occupancy rate of 95.1% in April, 98.3% in May, and 95.2% in June, and is said to have established a new accommodation platform suitable for wellness tourism, helping to attract stay-over visitors.

Suncheon Mayor Kwankyu Noh says “The expo should not be a festival of Suncheon alone, but should unite with neighboring cities and share the fruits of the expo as a matter of course” Visitors who actually visited Suncheon during the fair also traveled to neighboring cities, and tourism measures linked to the fair were introduced.

Gwangyang City offered discounts on accommodation for domestic and international tourists visiting the garden fair, and operated a city tour that connected the fair with Gwangyang’s tourist destinations. Boseong County hosted the Boseong World Tea Expo (April 29-May 7) and operated shuttle buses connecting the fairgrounds. An official said, “Tourists who came to the garden expo from Seoul and Gyeonggi visited the Boseong Green Tea Garden and the Taebaek Mountains Literature Center, revitalizing the local economy.”

According to a feasibility study by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, the economic impact of the expo on the entire country is estimated to be KRW 1.6 trillion in production and more than 25,000 jobs.

 

Korea’s newest movement starts with a garden expo! Suncheon changes the game for the city

A new paradigm shift in urban planning with ‘gardens’ at the center of it all

Even more noteworthy than the quantitative numbers are the new movements in South Korea that the expo represents. More than 230 local governments, institutions, organizations, and research institutes including Seoul and the capital region from across the country visited the expo to benchmark Suncheon. Suncheon Mayor says “The expo is a testament to the interest in how we can attract more people to the province and how we can create new economic drives.” Now, not only Suncheon, but also Seoul and the administrative capital Sejong have started to promote ‘garden cities’. Seoul Mayor Sehoon Oh and Sejong Mayor Minho Choi also paid a visit to the expo. The city of Seoul recently announced its plan to become a global garden city by increasing parks and green spaces throughout the city to combat climate change and allow people to enjoy leisure activities close to home. Sejong City also announced plans to drive the local economy as it prepares for the 2025 International Garden City Expo. 

25 local governments are in the process of designating national gardens, and 40 local gardens are being created across the country. In fact, Korea is expected to enter a new paradigm shift in urban planning centered on gardens, starting with the Suncheon garden expo. Suncheon Mayor says “Suncheon, the tail of Korea, has shaken the body of Korea. In the age of $30,000 incomes, we will be at a new turning point, moving from a gray city centered on cars and asphalt to a sunny, bright green city.”

 

▲ Suncheon City Mayor Kwankyu Noh

Garden Vacation in a perfect summer garden

Entertainment programs to make your summer night beautiful

Suncheon introduced Garden Vacation where people come to the garden to enjoy a perfect day in a summer garden. The music fountain, children’s playground, tree shade, and large water playground on the Ocheon Water Island attracted an average of more than 2,000 visitors per day on weekends, creating a true summer vacation scene. An official of the organization committee says “We are receiving a lot of inquiries for group visits not only from Suncheon but also from daycare centers in neighboring cities and counties. In July and August, it will be expanded to the entire eastern part of Jeollanam-do, which is expected to increase the number of visitors even more.” Streamside plazas, water playgrounds, glacier gardens at minus 18 degrees Celsius, and a garden dreamboat that coolly traverses the stream to a beach-like sandy area are the highlights of Garden Vacation.

The fairgrounds are ready for a summer makeover. There will be 1.3 million summer flowers of 50 varieties, including begonias, sunflowers, and cockscomb, and the waterfront will be filled with lotus flowers. The Pungdeokdul Landscape Garden is also transforming into a summer garden with 1.75 million seeds of 11 species, including cannas, sunflowers, and cosmos.

You can also look forward to high-quality cultural events that will color your summer nights. Suncheon hosts the ‘Ocheon Green Art Fair’ at Ocheon Green Square every weekend evening in July, featuring musical gala shows, fusion circus performances, garden music festivals, and street dances. In August, there will be water festivals, floating fashion shows, and other cool, summer-oriented stages.

 

Sucheon presents a big step for future city models

“We will make Suncheon the center of the South Coastal Belt and an international city in cooperation with neighboring cities.”

Ocheon Green Square, built in the middle of the city center, is represented as a place of relaxation and cultural enjoyment, establishing mature activities. Green Island, with its four-lane roads turned into gardens, is an example of innovation in response to the climate crisis and a model of an advanced city where people, not cars, are at the center. Suncheon is emerging as a great place to do business, thanks to the mayor’s groundbreaking attempts to improve the environment, education, and settlement conditions. Suncheon has secured the momentum for future industrial development by attracting investments from large companies such as Hanwha Aerospace and POSCO Lithium Solution, including the selection of a project to strengthen the competitiveness of the base industrial complex. Just as 15 years ago, Suncheon demonstrated that ecology drives the economy by organizing the 2013 Garden Expo to preserve Suncheon Bay and removing 282 electricity poles for the endangered black-crowned crane, Suncheon City is once again demonstrating the effectiveness of Suncheon’s eco-economy with the Expo.

Uijeongbu Mayor Donggeun Kim said “Suncheon has shown through its garden fair that creating an eco-city is not only beneficial to the environment and living things, but also has tremendous economic added value.”

South Gyeongnam Governor Wansu Park said “The expo is a new model of Suncheon to have made it successful in a short period of time with their passion.”

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Hokwon Choi said “The expo is a venue for the realization of true local self-government. It is noteworthy that they have invested in a long-term vision for the future instead of short-term sensationalism.”

Suncheon Mayor says “A good mayor doesn’t make a city great. It happens when you have a mayor who can read the direction of the city, a civil servant who brings wisdom, and a citizenry with high standards. Suncheon has taken a big step in creating a new urban model. As the center of the South Coastal Belt, we will unite with our neighbors to make Suncheon a city to be proud of overseas.”

백종원 기자  bridgekorea@naver.com