Korea’s Gamcheon Culture Village to possibly get a 250 million won makeover

For the first time in 10 years, Gamcheon Culture Village might get a 250 million won makeover beginning next year.

Saha-gu announced that it will promote the establishment of a master plan to revitalize tourism in Gamcheon Culture Village.

The service is expected to cost 250 million won for one year from January to December 2023. The district raised the service fee for next year’s main budget deliberation.

Located in Gamcheon 2-dong, the village has the characteristic of retaining the difficult life of refugees from all over the country during the Korean War.

It quickly emerged as a tourist attraction around 2009 with the creation of the Village Art Project – Dreaming Busan’s Machu Picchu, the Maze Maze Alley Project in 2010,  the Machu Picchu Alley Project and the Sanbok Road Renaissance Project in 2012.

However, as sales and visitors fell sharply due to COVID-19, the need to redefine the future direction emerged.

Sales of 11 village companies in Gamcheon Culture Village last year decreased by about 87% compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of visitors also decreased by about 57%. It is showing recovery after the lifting of social distancing measures, but it is a situation that requires long-term comprehensive measures, the district explained.

The direction of promotion is largely divided into the creation of a tourism base and the development and promotion of tourism content.

The formation of the tourism infrastructure includes residence infrastructure such as specialized streets, improving residential environments, linking tourism resources with problems such as parking difficulties, and building a smart tourism system.

In addition, differentiated tourism programs and new ideas using existing content were applied to the content development and nurturing sector.