4.5 million people visited Jinhae Gunhangje Festival this year

The 61st Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, which ran for 10 days from the 25th of last month, ended in great success.

The city moved the opening day forward, expecting the cherry blossoms to bloom about a week earlier, depending on the average temperature higher than normal.

With the festival resuming after four years due to COVID-19, travel demand is expected to explode, and the number of tourists visiting Gunhangje this year reached 4.5 million, the highest ever.

On March 25, the opening day, the blooming rate of cherry blossoms in Jinhae-gu reached 70%, creating crowds from the start.

Then, by April 3rd, the number of visitors who visited the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, where a beautiful cherry blossom feast was held, exceeded 4.5 million. This is an increase of 400,000 from 2019, the highest ever.

The economic inducement effect was found to have achieved an effect of 260 billion won when calculated based on the consumption expenditure per visitor to the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival in 2019, which is difficult after COVID-19. It appears to have contributed significantly to stimulating the economy.

Foreign tourists accounted for 12% of all visitors, or 540,000, an increase of 200,000 from 2019.

The number of tourists from China has increased noticeably. In the case of Taiwanese tourists, about 220,000 people visited, and on the 30th of last month, Consul General Lin Cheon-fu of the Taipei Representative Office in Korea visited the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival for continued tourism exchanges between Changwon and Taipei.

This year’s Jinhae Gunhangje Festival beautifully colored Jinhae with 360,000 cherry blossom trees during the day, performances and food at night, and lights and fireworks wrapped around the cherry blossoms.

As the event, which was concentrated in the Jungwon Rotary area in the past, was expanded to Jinhae-gu, various cultural and artistic performances were held every day in various places such as Jinhaeru, Yeojwacheon, Gyeonghwa Station, Naval Academy, and Pier 11.

In particular, at the Jungwon Rotary, K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 tanks produced by companies located in Changwon, the ‘main force of K-defense’, were exhibited, drawing popularity as a unique photo zone.

This is the first time the city has introduced a ‘mobile warning system’ to prepare for a crowd accident, and it is operated when there is a concern about crowding during the Gunhangje Festival.

About 15,000 temporary parking lots were secured at military bases, schools, and government offices, and Yeojwacheon, where tourists flock the most, was designated as a car-free and one-way street, while free shuttle buses enter the festival site every weekend and temporary bus-only lanes were opened to enhance tourist convenience.