Icheon City, Janghowon-eup Resident Promotion Committee formed... Enthusiasm for attracting horse racing parks rises

Janghowon-eup Resident Promotion Committee formed... Hobeop-myeon and Bubal-eup also announced their intention to host

(Icheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Gwang-ho Kim = As the city of Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, enters the race to attract the headquarters of the Korea Racing Authority and a horse racing park, enthusiasm for the bid is heating up, with residents of towns and villages in the jurisdiction, including Janghowon-eup, voluntarily forming a promotion committee and starting a signature campaign.

According to Icheon City on the 17th, after the city formalized its push to attract a horse racing park on the 8th, in a survey of interest in hosting it for town and township areas, residents of Bubal-eup, Sindun-myeon, Hobeop-myeon, and Yul-myeon, following Janghowon-eup, expressed their intention to host the park.

In particular, Janghowon-eup has already formed a resident promotion committee after a meeting to collect residents' opinions, and submitted the first signature form of about 4,000 residents to the city. Sindun-myeon and Hobeop-myeon are also preparing to submit bids.

The reason the city and residents rolled up their sleeves to attract a horse racing park is because of the enormous ripple effect on the local economy.

If the city hosts a horse racing park and the headquarters of the racing association, it expects to increase annual revenue by about 49 billion won, including about 6.3 billion won in leisure tax collection grants.

In addition, a work base for a total of 3,000 people, including racing association officials, racecourse officials, and partner company officials, will be created, and many new jobs are expected to be created through priority hiring of local residents in areas such as facility management, security, beautification, and food and beverage sales.

In addition, with the influx of more than 2 million visitors annually, local consumption such as accommodation, food, and transportation is expected to increase significantly, as well as horse experiences and various events and performances 365 days a year.

In addition, the effect of easing local regulations is expected through attracting large-scale public projects.

Icheon City's biggest strength is its solid 'horse industry infrastructure.'

Icheon has already been designated as a special horse industry zone, and 26 farms within the jurisdiction are raising about 470 horses, about 10% of the national horse population. Another strength is that the horse-specialized veterinary hospital treats about 5,600 horses annually and operates many horseback riding ranges.

Previously, Icheon City formalized its attraction activities on the 8th, saying, "If we attract the headquarters of the Korea Racing Association and the horse racing park, it will become a new growth engine for the local economy."

Icheon Mayor Seong Soo-seok said, “Based on the earnest wishes of citizens, the horse industry infrastructure that Icheon City has, and the excellent metropolitan transportation network, we will do our best to successfully attract the Korea Racing Association and the horse racing park so that it can become a future industry that will be responsible for the next 100 years of Icheon City.”