Four North Gyeongsang cities join forces to boost regional tourism

Four cities and counties in northeastern North Gyeongsang Province held a working-level meeting Friday to strengthen cooperation on tourism promotion and joint marketing across the region.

Yeongyang-gun, Bonghwa-gun, Uljin-gun and Yeongju — the four local governments that make up the Northeast Regional Administrative Cooperation Council — gathered at Yeongyang County Office for the council's second working meeting, aimed at jointly developing tourism products and pursuing integrated marketing.

Participants focused on detailed plans for shared promotional initiatives, including a joint outdoor advertising campaign in major cities and a Baekdudaegan Run Trip program covering the northeastern corridor.

The meeting also produced a consensus on ways to strengthen the region's tourism competitiveness by linking each area's distinct assets — Yeongyang's birch forests and dark-sky scenery, Bonghwa's pristine Baekdudaegan nature, Uljin's coastal tourism resources, and Yeongju's historical and cultural heritage — into experience-based tourism content spanning the entire northeastern zone.

"The northeastern North Gyeongsang region has excellent individual tourism resources in each locality, but a far greater synergy can be achieved by connecting the area as a single tourism belt and promoting it together," said Kim Gyeong-ho, head of Yeongyang-gun's culture and tourism division. "We will continue to work closely together to develop differentiated tourism products, expand joint marketing and drive tourism growth."