South Gyeongsang Province aims to make southern coast a world-class maritime tourism hub

South Gyeongsang Province has fired the opening shot in its push to develop the southern coast into a world-class maritime tourism destination.

The province held the first Gyeongsangnam-do Tourism Day ceremony Friday at the Changwon Convention Center (CECO), with about 200 tourism industry workers and residents in attendance, and proclaimed its vision of a "Great Southern Coast Transformation, Great Gyeongnam Tourism Leap."

The ceremony carries symbolic weight in the province's tourism history. South Gyeongsang Province designated July 11 as its own annual Tourism Day to mark last year's confirmation and official announcement of the southern coast island-linking maritime highway as part of a national government plan. This year's inaugural ceremony was held a day early, on Friday, in consideration of tourism workers being busiest on weekends.

"The first Gyeongnam Tourism Day celebrates the historic turning point when the southern coast island-linking maritime highway was incorporated into the national plan, and marks the starting point for opening a new future for Gyeongnam tourism," Governor Park Wan-su said in his commemorative address. He added that the province would "nurture the tourism industry as a core strategic industry for the region and build Gyeongnam into a global maritime tourism hub that people from around the world will seek out."

The centerpiece of the "Great Southern Coast Transformation" is improving accessibility. As domestic and international tourism trends have shifted away from group tours toward individual travelers — with more than 80 percent of visitors now arriving independently — the province plans to expand infrastructure around the southern coast island-linking maritime highway as its main tourism axis. The route runs from Yeosu in South Jeolla Province through an undersea tunnel, passing through Namhae, Tongyeong's Saryang Island and Hansan Island, and Geoje before reaching Busan.

Policies linking city and county governments to promote extended-stay tourism are also moving into full swing. The province is pursuing measures to lengthen visitor stays by connecting city- and county-specific nighttime tourism assets — such as the Haman Nakwha Festival, Tongyeong Dipirang and the Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival — with global festivals. The recent opening of landmark accommodation facilities such as the Sol Beach Resort in Namhae is also lending momentum to the shift toward extended-stay tourism.

The ceremony also featured the inaugural presentation of the Gyeongnam Tourism Award, the first such honor established by any province in the country. Recipients were selected through a combined evaluation drawing on objective data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab — a quantitative assessment of changes in visitor numbers and tourism spending over the past two years, alongside a qualitative assessment of efforts to develop region-specific content and promotional performance.

Namhae-gun took the top prize. Miryang received the gold award and Tongyeong the silver, while Changwon and Geochang-gun shared the bronze. This year's winning cities and counties will receive administrative incentives including bonus points in personnel evaluations. The province is also reviewing plans to incorporate financial incentives — including prize money — for award-winning cities and counties into its budget starting next year.

In conjunction with Tourism Day, the province is running a Gyeongnam Tourism Week through July 18. A total of 23 organizations and groups across the province are taking part, offering 77 programs in all. During the period, visitors can take advantage of discounts at major tourism facilities, accommodations and souvenir shops across the province — including a buy-one-get-one-free admission offer for youth at Masan Robot Land, reduced fares on the Tongyeong Cable Car and Sacheon Sea Cable Car, and discounts at Gimhae Gaya Theme Park — alongside a series of local festivals.

Kim Sang-won, director general of the province's tourism development bureau, said the province would "further solidify its cooperative framework with cities, counties and the tourism industry on the back of this first Tourism Day," adding that it would "push ahead with building the southern coast maritime tourism belt at pace and propel Gyeongnam into a globally recognized tourism destination."