The Transformation of 600 Years of Hongeo... Naju City to Develop Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street as a Gourmet Tourism Destination

Owner Training and Expert Consulting Launched
Strengthening Service, Hygiene, and Marketing Capabilities
Transforming Hongeo Street into a Stay-Type Tourism Destination
Full-Scale Advancement of the Namdo Food Alley Premium Project

Naju City in South Jeolla Province has launched a full-fledged effort to enhance the competitiveness of Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street, aiming to develop it beyond a simple food alley into a leading gourmet tourism destination that combines history, culture, and tourism.

On the 27th, Naju City announced that, as part of the “Namdo Food Alley Premium Project,” it will provide tailored training and expert consulting for restaurant owners to bolster the competitiveness of Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street, which is designated by South Jeolla Province as a Namdo Food Alley.

This project shifts the focus from facility upgrades to improving the quality of food, service, and management capabilities—key content competitiveness factors that tourists directly experience.

To this end, in partnership with the Suraclub Academy, Naju City has been offering practice-oriented training sessions for six weeks, starting from June 23 to July 28, for participating businesses on Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street as well as local restaurant owners.

Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street, newly renovated last year. Photo by Naju City

In addition, customized consulting for each establishment is being conducted with experts from the restaurant industry. The program aims to boost competitiveness and increase visitor satisfaction through menu improvements, service quality enhancement, marketing strategy development, and management diagnostics tailored to each business.

Naju City also plans to produce and distribute promotional hygiene items such as spoon cases in July to further enhance the hygiene standards and clean image of the food alley.

Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street is a nationally recognized destination for hongeo, boasting a 600-year tradition of aged skate cuisine. In recent years, efforts have expanded beyond food to include the development of tourism content as part of the Namdo Food Alley Premium Project.

In fact, from 2024 to 2025, Naju City invested a total of 1 billion won to improve the environment of Hongeo Street. At the entrance, the city installed a symbolic character called "Hongstar" and a Hongeo Samhap Band photo zone, as well as storytelling signboards, themed rest areas, murals, and shade canopies to enhance the experience and encourage longer stays by visitors.

This project is seen as an extension of Naju City's strategy to transform Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street from a simple dining area into a tourism resource rich in experiences and stories.

As recent tourism trends shift toward gourmet tourism that emphasizes experiencing local history, cuisine, and culture together, the competitiveness of service and content, rather than just facility improvements, is becoming increasingly important for regional food alleys.

Naju City plans to leverage its unique local asset—aged hongeo—as well as the Yeongsan River and Yeongsanpo's modern cultural heritage, to develop Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street into a representative stay-type tourism hub for Naju.

Mayor Yoon Byungtae stated, "We will enhance the historical, cultural, and culinary value of Yeongsanpo Hongeo Street to establish it as Naju's signature gourmet tourism destination," adding, "We will do our utmost to create a premium food alley that visitors will want to return to."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.