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Gwangju’s Urban Tourism Trail Project Interview with Hyunhee Cho Interview by Jeong Jiyeon In an effort to expand Gwangju’s tourism options, Gwangju City, through the Gwangju Urban Tourism Agency, has embarked on a remarkable project of creating short tours within the city limits to pique interest in the city, its history, and its culture and arts. To bring you the details of the tourism trail project, the Gwangju News met up with the head of the Gwangju Urban Tour Agency, Cho Hyunhee, for the following interview. — Ed.
GN: Could you tell us something about the main projects of the agency? Cho Hyunhee: Certainly. Currently, our main project is the Urban Tourism Trails, which allows tourists to walk around the old downtown area surrounding the Asia Culture Center. Also, this year we are conducting a K-pop dance-cover experience tour where visitors can try and learn K-pop dance routines in the K-pop Idol Alley set up in the backstreet area of the former Student Memorial Hall just off Chungjang-ro [Gwangju’s “walking street”]. GN: What was the idea behind creating the K-pop Idol Alley, and what plans do you have in store for its future?
Cho Hyunhee: As you know, Gwangju has not been known for an abundance of tourist attractions. Nevertheless, people from outside still believe that Gwangju is a great city. When we thought about why this might be so, we realized that Gwangju is a city of amazing people. There are many K-pop stars who were born in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do, so we figured that even if only their fans visited the city, Gwangju could live on as a tourist city. Therefore, we have come up with the idea to create the K-pop Idol Alley, inspired by the paths taken by K-pop stars who came from Gwangju, and proposed it to Gwangju City. That is how the K-pop Idol Alley was created in the Gwangju Student Memorial Hall area. These backstreets have been the creative center of student culture for decades and are also known as the place of origin for the well-known lettuce-wrapped fries. Due to the fact that there are many students among K-pop enthusiasts, setting up the K-pop Idol Alley is bound to bring out synergy with the surrounding commercial area of Chungjang-ro. As for the future, we are planning to
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GN: You mentioned that the Urban Tourism Trail project has seven different courses. Could you tell us more about what each of the courses includes and how Gwangju citizens can take part in them?
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include K-pop idols’ handprints, a K-pop Stars’ Memorial Hall, and murals of K-pop stars. I believe our visitors will be able to see these from around the beginning of November this year. We would also like to attract many K-pop fans from overseas to come to Gwangju through this project.
The Gwangju Urban Tourism Agency’s office.
FEATURE
Gwangju News (GN): To begin with, please briefly introduce yourself and the Gwangju Urban Tour Agency. Cho Hyunhee: My name is Cho Hyunhee, and I am the representative of the Gwangju Urban Tour Agency. The Gwangju Urban Tour Agency creates and operates seven tours inspired by hidden touristic treasures in the city of Gwangju. The contents our agency creates are mainly made for tourists and Gwangju citizens.
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