Fam tour for Busan and South Gyeongsang Province travel agencies runs Tuesday and Wednesday

Ulsan promotes Bangucheon petroglyphs, Taehwagang National Garden

'Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam tourism' aims for mutual growth across the southeast

Ulsan operates the "Ulsan Macha," an electric-powered bicycle taxi, as an eco-friendly transport option as part of the city's efforts to become a world-class garden city. [Provided by Ulsan City]
Ulsan operates the "Ulsan Macha," an electric-powered bicycle taxi, as an eco-friendly transport option as part of the city's efforts to become a world-class garden city. [Provided by Ulsan City]

Ulsan is developing wide-area, extended-stay tourism products linking Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province in a bid to generate synergy across the southeastern region's integrated tourism landscape.

The city is hosting a promotional familiarization tour Tuesday and Wednesday, inviting 27 travel product planners from 23 agencies — 19 from 16 Busan-based agencies and 8 from 7 agencies in South Gyeongsang Province. The event aims to expand the tourism footprint of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam area and enhance its appeal as a destination where visitors are encouraged to stay an extra day.

Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province are each building out their tourism zones, drawing on existing local assets: a sunset tourism attraction at Dadaepo in Saha-gu, Busan; a whale village tourism hub at Jangsaengpo in Nam-gu, Ulsan; a mountain tourism base camp in Ulju-gun; a tourism bay development in Tongyeong; and a Korean-themed tourism garden in Changwon.

Participants will experience Ulsan's tourism sites firsthand and explore ways to connect them with the tourism assets of neighboring cities.

On the first day, Tuesday, the group will visit Fe01, a cultural regeneration complex in Seosaeng-myeon, Ulju-gun, to experience Ulsan's emerging arts scene, including junk art installations. They will then move to Taehwagang National Garden — South Korea's second national garden — where they will ride the Ulsan Macha, an electric-powered bicycle taxi, to explore the city's urban ecological tourism resources. The tour will conclude with a visit to the Bangucheon Petroglyphs, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to experience the essence of prehistoric culture.

On the second day, Wednesday, participants will explore Ulsan's marine tourism resources. The itinerary includes Daewangam Park, known for its dramatic East Sea coastline, followed by a visit to the Jangsaengpo Whale Culture Special Zone, where the group will tour whale-themed attractions and hands-on facilities including the Wales Kart extreme experience. The tour wraps up at Taehwagang Station.

Ulsan lacks the infrastructure — such as an airport — needed to count incoming tourists directly, but estimates suggest about 3.55 million people visited the city's 25 ticketed attractions last year, while data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab, which tracks spending via credit cards and similar methods, put the figure at about 52 million visitors.

Through the event, Ulsan plans to weave together the tourism assets of Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province into an attractive southeastern tourism product.

"Local tourism content alone has its limits, so through this event we want travel planners to communicate with one another and experience the sites directly," a city official said. "We will develop tailored tourism products that combine the ecological, marine and historical resources of Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province to offer visitors a truly enriching experience."


cityblue@heraldcorp.com