Jeju to Link Downtown Nighttime Attractions: Light Festival, Government Office and Shopping Districts Along One Route

【Financial News | Jeju—Jeong Yong-bok, reporter】 Jeju Province is pursuing a plan to combine the light festival at Sinsan Park, media art at the Jeju-mok Government Office, and the shopping districts along Jungang-ro and Chilsungro into a single nighttime tourism route. The idea is to encourage visitors to walk from the festival and exhibition to nearby restaurants and shopping areas, thereby extending stays in the old downtown and increasing local spending.
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province said on the 3rd that Wi Seong-gon, governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, visited Sinsan Park in Jeju City, the Jeju-mok Government Office and the Jungang-ro area in succession on the evening of the 1st to assess nighttime tourism content and its potential links with nearby businesses. Hwang Kyung-seon, director of Jeju Province's Tourism and Exchange Bureau, and Kim Hyeong-eun, head of the World Heritage Headquarters, accompanied him, among others.
The focus of the inspection was not on adding new nighttime events. Instead, it centered on connecting existing light festivals, historical and cultural content, and shopping districts so tourists would stay longer in the old downtown.
The first stop was Sinsan Park, where the '2026 Sinsan Dochaebi Light Festival' is being held. The event brings Dochaebi, a Jeju dialect term for goblin, to life through light installations, performances and hands-on activities based on traditional folktales.
Jeju Province focused on the festival's system for directly linking the event with local businesses. Visitors who bring receipts for purchases made in Ildo 2-dong can exchange them for coins, depending on the amount spent, to use in hands-on activities and games at the festival. The system is designed to move beyond a structure in which visitors spend only at the festival site, encouraging them to use nearby shops first before returning to the event.
Governor Wi took part in the 'Dochaebi Horn Ring Game' and reviewed the children's activity programs and the coin system on site.

Jeju Province plans to examine how effective this approach is in actually increasing spending at local businesses and whether it can be applied to other nighttime content.
The second stop was the Jeju-mok Government Office, where the national heritage media art exhibition 'Pellong Pellong Bit Modorak 2' runs through the 5th.
The exhibition presents the stories of Jeju's 18,000 gods through light and video, using the buildings and outdoor spaces of the Jeju-mok Government Office as a media art stage. It is an example of expanding cultural heritage beyond daytime viewing spaces into content that can be enjoyed at night.
The inspection also raised the issue of providing sufficient advance information about exhibition schedules and tourist routes.
After listening to explanations from the guide and participating artists, Governor Wi ordered officials to set exhibition and performance schedules and publicize them through the website and other channels so tourists can plan their itineraries in advance.
The assessment is that nighttime tourism can lead to longer stays only when the operating hours of the content, the business hours of nearby establishments and visitor routes are coordinated.

The areas surrounding the Jeju-mok Government Office are home to Jungang-ro Shopping Street, Chilsungro Shopping Street and the Jeju Jungang Underground Shopping Center. Jeju Province is considering connecting the tourism route so visitors who view the media art at the government office can dine and shop along Jungang-ro and Chilsungro and stay longer in the old downtown.
After leaving the Jeju-mok Government Office, Governor Wi also walked through the Jungang-ro area via the arcade and the Jeju Traveler Center to inspect firsthand how the shopping district could be linked with tourism content.
The key to Jeju Province's vision for nighttime tourism is not the number of visitors but how long they stay. Rather than drawing tourists to one event and having them immediately leave for another area, the plan is to create a structure in which they successively enjoy nearby cultural heritage, festivals, food and shopping.
In areas such as the old downtown, where historical and cultural facilities are clustered near traditional shopping districts, coordinating operating hours and programs is more effective for extending stays than running each piece of content separately.
Based on this inspection, Jeju Province plans to analyze the operating hours of cultural heritage sites, festivals and local businesses, along with visitor routes, and develop a detailed nighttime tourism strategy for the old downtown.
Wi Seong-gon, governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, said, "The success of nighttime tourism in the old downtown should be measured not only by the number of visitors but also by how long people stay." He added, "We will connect tourism resources so that the steps people take while enjoying Jeju's culture, shopping and food lead to vitality for the local economy."


[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter