Chuncheon City Hits 107% of Target for 'Gye Group Train' During October's Makdak Festival

【Financial News, Chuncheon = Kim Gi-seop, Reporter】Chuncheon City drew 290 tourists—exceeding its recruitment target—by running a culinary tour train during last month's Chuncheon Makguksu & Dakgalbi Festival.
According to Chuncheon City on the 3rd, a total of 290 people took part in the Chuncheon K-Chicken Belt Gye Group Train tour package, which the city operated with Korail Tourism Networks: 232 rode the special ITX-Cheongchun train, while 58 chose the overnight package. That was 107.4% of the original target of 270. The special train ran on the 16th of last month, during the Chuncheon Makguksu & Dakgalbi Festival.
Participants gave the trip positive reviews. In a survey, satisfaction with the trip scored 6.32 out of 7, while the response indicating they would use it again or recommend it scored 6.29. Tourists also supported local spending by buying dakgalbi meal kits and local specialties to take home during the trip. Based on this feedback, the city plans to improve the package and provide better restaurant information for foreign tourists.
On the 16th of last month, participants on the special train arrived in Chuncheon while answering quiz questions about the city and dakgalbi. They were then divided among six themed itineraries—including ones focused on meals, noodles, drinks and entertainment—and visited Korean dining establishments and 10 dakgalbi restaurants. They filled the day with makguksu-making, traditional liquor tasting, sweet potato harvesting, and cable car and canoe experiences.
The package was developed as part of this year's K-Gourmet Belt Project by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the Korean Food Promotion Institute. After the city was selected as the nation's top entry in the chicken-cuisine category in a public competition, it surveyed all of the roughly 230 dakgalbi restaurants in the area and secured the participation of 175.
The city created a dakgalbi map in four languages—Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese—and distributed it at the festival grounds and major tourist attractions. About 20,000 people visited the promotional booth it operated during the festival from the 14th to the 18th of last month. The city plans to expand culinary-city exchanges with Parma, Italy, to raise the festival's international profile.
A city official said, “We saw tourists who came by train last month stop in turn at dakgalbi restaurants, a brewery and rural experience sites, and buy meal kits and local specialties as well. With the 175 participating restaurants, we will create a culinary travel experience unique to Chuncheon that foreign visitors can easily visit and stay for.”
[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter