Hwacheon-gun seeks to increase experience fees and refunds for the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

(Hwacheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Sang-hak = Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do is pushing for a plan to connect tourist consumption to local income by raising the experience fee and local currency refund for the 'Iceland Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival' to be held early next year.

Hwacheon-gun announced on the 5th that it recently held a briefing session on new ideas for the festival at the county office and discussed about 100 program and operation improvement plans proposed by the private sector and each department.

The main change is the adjustment of the Sancheoneo experience fee and refund amount.

Starting next year's festival, the county plans to raise the adult experience fee from 15,000 won to 25,000 won, and also expand the amount returned to tourists from 5,000 won to 15,000 won.

Refunds are promoted by combining agricultural specialty product exchange vouchers and Hwacheon Love Gift Certificates.

If both exchange vouchers and gift certificates are used, the actual burden on tourists is the same as before, 10,000 won, but the refund amount that can be spent locally increases by three times.

New programs to increase tourist satisfaction will also be reviewed.

At the briefing session, night programs using smart media such as lasers and drones, a Finnish water sauna, a large igloo ice cafe, and an LED balloon event were proposed.

There were also suggestions to create a historical street for the Sancheoneo Festival, milestones for major cities around the world, and a Sancheoneo thermometer tower.

As a plan to increase county residents' income, a plan was proposed to replace the gold ring, which is the prize for the night fishing event with the largest catch, with a Hwacheon Love gift certificate.

We also discussed expanding souvenir shops involving local craft workshops, artists, and social enterprises, adjusting the location of agricultural specialty product sales outlets, on-site delivery services, and developing meal kits.

The creation of a night market on Seondeung Street, delivery services, and plans to link online sales of exchange vouchers for agricultural and specialty products were also subject to review.

The county plans to improve the quality of the festival and its contribution to the local economy by improving existing programs and providing new experiences and consumption opportunities.

Hwacheon County Mayor Kim Se-hoon said, “We will create a Hwacheon-type circular economy model by increasing the amount of local currency refunded to tourists in proportion to the realization of program usage fees.”