| People lean back against trees and have a moment of meditation at the Jangseong Soopchewon in South Jeolla Province. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization |
By Jun Ji-hye
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has selected nine “wellness vacation" spots worth visiting in 2020 to refresh tired bodies and minds, as people's mental fatigue has worsened due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
Wellness tourism is a relatively new concept referring to travel promoting personal health and wellbeing through relaxing activities such as thermal springs, thalassotherapy, spas and meditation. This concept is different from medical tourism where people travel for medical treatment or surgery.
The state-run tourism promotion agency selected the nine spots after reviewing 37 candidates recommended by its local offices, considering their content originality, accessibility and potential for development, among other criteria.
The wellness vacation spots selected by the KTO are categorized into four themes ― nature and forest; beauty and spas; healing and meditation; and oriental medicine.
Those categorized under the theme of nature and forest are Napory Farm in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province; Jangseong Soopchewon in South Jeolla Province; Odosan Natural Recreation Forest in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province; and the National Center for Forest Therapy in North Gyeongsang Province and Ulsan.
Napory Farm is filled with hinoki cypress trees that are known for their abundant phytoncides, while Jangseong Soopchewon owned by the Korea Forest Welfare Institute focuses on forest education.
The National Center for Forest Therapy operates a wide variety of programs under the themes, “forest,” “aqua,” “relaxation” and “aroma,” through which visitors can properly enjoy the benefits of the forest.
| People do yoga at the National Center for Forest Therapy in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization |
For those planning vacations to wellness spas, the KTO recommends the DR.O&Ananti Private Clinic within Ananti Cove, a premium oceanfront resort complex in Busan. The clinic focuses treatment on both internal and external wellbeing.
Other spots recommended include Osaek Greenyard Hotel in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, and Edenhills Beauty Healing Park in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province.
Those seeking a moment of meditation are invited to visit a healing center called Yeomyeong, in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province.
From 2017 to 2019, the KTO, together with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, selected 39 wellness vacation spots worth visiting in response to growing demand from people for places to take care of their physical and mental state to improve their quality of life.
The KTO said it is working to actively support a total of 48 wellness vacation spots, including nine that have been newly-selected.
The organization has already offered consulting aimed at improving the facilities, as well as publicity activities in and outside the country. It has been also working to help the facilities attract more foreign tourists.
As a result of those efforts, about 250,000 foreign tourists visited the wellness vacation spots recommended by the KTO in 2019, a 68 percent increase from a year earlier.
The KTO said the wellness vacation spots are also expected to contribute to reviving regional economies as most of them are located in rural areas.
“We hope people who have had a hard time due to the COVID-19 pandemic will have a chance to relax their exhausted bodies and minds at our wellness vacation spots,” said Kim Jeong-ah who heads the medical and wellness department of the KTO.
Wellness tourism appears to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry, having grown 6.5 percent on average every year, according to the Global Wellness Institute.