The "14th Urban-Rural Exchange Day Commemorative 2026 Rural Travel Festival" will be held Tuesday at Seoul Square, in front of Seoul City Hall. Urban-Rural Exchange Day is a statutory commemorative day established in May 2013.
The nationwide event is designed to promote urban-rural exchange and expand the reach of rural tourism. A total of 67 rural tourism operators, two affiliated organizations and one youth entrepreneur are participating, including representatives from Gangwon Province.
Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province is joining the festival alongside 18 rural experience and recreation villages from six cities and counties across the province, and plans to promote region-specific rural experience programs and tourism resources.
Gangwon Province's offerings span six participating groups: Hongcheon-gun's Rural Creative Tour booth will feature a 1970s nostalgia play experience, pet rock pre-sales and creative tour product promotions; the Yeongwol Creative Tour "Yeongwol Romasillo" booth will introduce recreation villages and promote creative tour products; the Samcheok City Rural and Fishing Village Experience Tourism Council will offer Scandinavian moss craft activities; the Hoengseong-gun Rural Experience and Recreation Village Council will serve Hoengseong tomato bingsu and host a companion seedling planting activity; the Pyeongchang-gun Rural Experience and Recreation Village Council will run fly-fishing lure making, plaster diffuser making and wooden robot making workshops; and the Inje-gun Rural Experience and Recreation Village Council will promote its rural experience villages and offer mini diffuser making.
The booths for Yeongwol-gun and Hongcheon-gun — both selected for the government-funded Rural Creative Tour Support Project — will showcase differentiated rural travel products reflecting each area's character and actively recruit on-site bookings, with the aim of turning urban visitors into actual rural tourists and driving tourism spending.
Park Hyeong-cheol, director general of agriculture policy at Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, said the event is "a great opportunity to directly introduce city residents to the natural, cultural and experiential appeal of Gangwon's rural areas." He added that the province would "continue working to strengthen the competitiveness of rural experience and recreation villages and invigorate rural tourism so that more visitors come to Gangwon's countryside during the summer vacation season."
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