Sokcho City Accelerates Efforts to Become a Year-Round Tourist Destination Without an Off-Season

The trend of Sokcho City in Gangwon Province transforming into a year-round tourist destination, with tourism demand expanding beyond the traditional peak season of July and August to the off-season, is becoming increasingly prominent. Along with this, not only has the total tourism expenditure increased, but the number of navigation searches-an indicator of tourist visitation demand-has also continued to rise, further solidifying Sokcho’s status as South Korea’s top tourist city.

Cherry Blossom Festival at Yeongnangho Lake in April 2025. Provided by Sokcho City

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According to big data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab, annual tourism expenditure in Sokcho City for 2025 is estimated at 646.72 billion won, a 3.7% increase from 623.66 billion won in 2024. This data is based on credit card usage by customers of a specific card company and is used to analyze trends rather than absolute figures by extrapolating total card spending nationwide. Considering that the 2024 figure rose by about 0.8% compared to 2023, it is clear that tourism expenditure in Sokcho City is on a consistent upward trajectory.

The number of navigation searches, which indicates tourist movement and visitation demand, has also continued to increase. The annual number of searches within Sokcho City rose from 5,286,966 in 2023 to 5,606,816 in 2024, an increase of 319,850 searches (about 6.0%). In 2025, the number further increased to 5,775,759, up by 168,943 searches (about 3.0%) compared to 2024. This confirms that the growth in tourism expenditure is accompanied by a simultaneous expansion in visitation demand.

This analysis shows a particularly marked increase in the off-season compared to 2024. Total tourism expenditure from January to May rose by 8.9%, from 216 billion won in 2024 to 235.15 billion won in 2025. During the same period, navigation searches increased by 8.2%, from 1,853,981 to 2,006,233.

The upward trend continued in the fourth quarter. Tourism expenditure from October to December increased for three consecutive years: 149.82 billion won in 2023, 154.68 billion won in 2024, and 158.79 billion won in 2025. During the same period, navigation searches also expanded from 1,265,461 in 2023 to 1,332,433 in 2024, and 1,521,977 in 2025. Notably, the search growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2025 surged by 14.2% compared to 2024, making the expansion of off-season tourism demand even more pronounced.

This upward trend is attributed to Sokcho City broadening its tourism base from a focus on beach and marine tourism to include inland and content-based attractions such as Seoraksan Mountain, Yeongnangho Lake, Cheongchoho Lake, Sokcho Tourist & Fishery Market, Abai Village, and various local foods.

Winter view of Abai Village and Gaetbae Ferry. Provided by Sokcho City

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The city has also enhanced its cultural content by promoting itself as a culinary city and has proactively introduced new tourism trends such as workation and runcation. In Seorak-dong, a new trail called Seorak Fragrance Road has been created, while barefoot walking trails have been established around Yeongnangho Lake and Cheongchoho Lake to meet the growing demand for wellness tourism. Additionally, the city has held the Yeongnangho Cherry Blossom Festival for two consecutive years, attracting a large number of spring visitors.

The city plans to further strengthen and advance its tourism content to maintain and develop this momentum. The Seoraksan Cultural Complex, which will be established this year, aims to revitalize Seorak-dong as a hub for stay-type tourism, and policies tailored to trends such as wellness and workation will be further developed.

Through the 'Sokcho Beach Tourism Hub Linkage Project,' which connects Cheongho Beach, Sokcho Beach, and the Oeongchi Badahyanggi-ro coastal trail into a single tourism belt, the city plans to significantly expand nighttime tourism content and increase the length of tourist stays.

A Sokcho City official stated, "The next step for Sokcho City is to evolve into a destination where visitors stay longer by expanding diverse content. We will continue our efforts to discover and establish a variety of tourism content to achieve not only quantitative but also qualitative growth."

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