IO – Jeong Man Head Office, Vice-Governor of Gangwon Province, South Korea, hopes more Indonesians will visit his province, especially in the winter. “Snow in Gangwon comes sooner and lasts longer,” said Jeong in the Gangwon International Travel Mart (GITM) event in Sheraton Grand Jakarta Gandaria City Hotel, Thursday, September 19.
“This is the first time we have held GIMT in Jakarta. After this, I will go to Bangkok and Taipei,” said Jeong.
Around 250 thousand Indonesian tourists visit Gangwon annually. “On average, their destination is Seoul, where they then stop by Gangwon. Next, we want to capture tourist groups such as those from Indonesian companies that want to hold gatherings with all their employees in Gangwon,” he said.
Jeong stated that last month there was a company from Jakarta that sent almost a thousand employees to a team-building activity in Gangwon. “Groups like this are our target,” he said.
On average, around three million tourists visit Gangwon annually. “During the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last year, the number increased to four million,” explained Jeong.
The Olympics helped quickly progress Gangwon’s infrastructure and transportation. “Now travel from Gangwon to Seoul is quicker. There is a new road route and a new train route from Seoul to Gangwon that has made the travel only one to two hours,” he said. Other than that, taxi and shuttle buses are also available.
“Indonesia is a very important market for us. The hope is Gangwon can become the second most-visited destination after Seoul,” said Jeong.
There are many tourist attractions in Gangwon. “Other than the view, winter, there is also the history. Other than that, there is the demilitarized zone at the North Korean border. There is a free zone eight kilometers wide which surrounding area can be seen. The ecosystem there is very original and preserved,” he explained.
Anything anyone thinks about when talking about Korea can be found in Gangwon, from the view, winters, history to K-Pop and filming of popular Korean movies.
“We await the arrival of tourists from Indonesia and other countries in Gangwon.” (rp)