Yongin City Announces “2040 Smart Tourism” Vision: “A City Where Everyday Life Becomes a Journey”

Yongin City to Invest 9 Billion Won in
Digital Tourism Infrastructure
Promote Longer Stays Across Four Tourism Zones

Yongin Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Sang-il) has announced its “2040 Yongin Tourism Smart Vision,” which aims to apply digital technology to tourism, extend visitors’ stays and increase local spending.

Ryu Gwangyeol, First Vice Mayor of Yongin Special City, delivers welcoming remarks at the Yongin Tourism Smart Festival on the 8th. Photo provided by Yongin City.

Yongin City announced on October 12 that it had unveiled its vision and plans for creating a smart tourism city at the Yongin Tourism Smart Festival, held on October 8 in the plaza of Yongin Poeun Art Hall in Jukjeon-dong, Suji-gu.

The city is carrying out a Smart Tourism City Development Project after being selected in a Korea Tourism Organization competition. The project has a total budget of 9 billion won, including national and municipal funds. The festival was organized to share the project’s key achievements and future plans and give residents and visitors the opportunity to experience digital tourism content firsthand.

The vision’s central message is “Yongin, a smart tourism city where everyday life becomes a journey and time spent here becomes valuable.” The plan goes beyond providing tourism information and improving travel convenience: it aims to encourage visitors to stay in Yongin and enjoy the area’s culture and natural environment.

To achieve this, the city plans to divide the area into four tourism zones and develop initiatives tailored to each zone. In the east, it will promote wellness travel centered on the Rural Theme Park and Beopryunsa Temple. In the west, it will strengthen arts-focused tourism by linking venues including Poeun Art Hall and the Nam June Paik Art Center. In the south, it will develop waterside wellness tourism using Idong Reservoir and Giheung Lake Park, while in the central zone, it will focus on traditional cultural travel connecting Yongin Central Market and the Korean Folk Village.

The city will also enhance the services of Yongin Tourism, its integrated smart tourism platform. It plans to improve the digital tourism experience with tourism information, smart maps, audio guides and stamp tours, helping visitors plan and enjoy their trips with ease.

At the festival, a video was screened using a large LED display and media facade set up in the plaza of Poeun Art Hall. The program also included a DJ party by entertainer Park Myung-soo, busking performances, a stamp tour, and glow-in-the-dark tattoo and nail art activities.

A resident who came from Pungdeokcheon 2-dong, Suji-gu, said, “It’s nice to see videos of Joayong and works by artists such as Nam June Paik on the media facade when I’m traveling between Jukjeon-dong and elsewhere. I also made special memories with my family at today’s festival while taking part in various activities.”

Yongin Special City proclaims its smart vision at the Yongin Tourism Smart Festival on the 8th. Provided by Yongin City.

Ryu Gwangyeol, First Deputy Mayor of Yongin City, said, “We will connect Yongin’s industries and technology with its tourism resources and apply digital technology to our outstanding attractions to build Yongin into a smart tourism city where everyday life becomes a journey and time spent here becomes valuable.”

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