Tourists will have more reasons to visit Seoul just a few years from now.
Their new destinations will include stops that feature the old and the new Korea.
Kim Ji－yeon helps us paint a picture of these new tourist attractions.
″Foreigners will be able to experience traditional Korean culture at the heart of Seoul... after
a construction of a multipurpose cultural facility dubbed the ′K－Experience.′
You can see that the site looks like a lump of green for now but that will change in the
coming years.
Projects like these are part of President Park Geun－hye′s cultural policies during
the second half of her term... in which she hopes the country thrives through major construction
and infrastructure projects like the K－experience.″
Korean concerts， exhibitions and food are expected to be the main features.
But the facility′s surroundings may be one of the most attractive aspects.
K－Experience will be built on 36－thousand square meters of land… adjacent to Insadong
and Samcheong－dong shopping districts…
all popular tourist destinations.
The first phase of construction is expected to be finished by 2017，... spearheaded by
the country′s top air carrier Korean Air Lines and the culture ministry.
″Creation of such tourist landmarks in downtown Seoul is expected to help foreigners rediscover
the value of traditional Korean culture.″
The government will also invest 40－point－6－million U.S. dollars to transform a stadium in Seoul′s
Olympic Park into an outdoor K－pop concert hall.
The music venue will be open 365 days a year and feature the best in sound and lighting
equipment.
The ministry hopes the value created by developing cultural contents and tourist destinations
will boost the local economy.
Namiseon Island is an example of the potential gains.
Tourism to the island is estimated to have generated more than 2－and－a－half－billion
U.S. dollars after the hit Korean TV drama ″Winter Sonata″ was filmed there.
Kim Ji－yeon， Arirang News.