사진 확대 Han Woo-ram, Director of Content Planning Division
What is the purpose of going on a trip. It’s an escape from everyday life.
To this end, the virtue of a travel destination is basically differentiation. Hokkaido, which recently visited for a winter vacation, showed this virtue properly. There were phrases embedded in everything placed on souvenir shops and snack stands. It was “Only Hokkaido 限.”
The quality of the food was overwhelming. We waited in line for more than 20 minutes to eat expensive ice cream cones, which cost 500 yen and 4,700 won. The ice cream, which boasts a rich taste of milk fat that is not found in Korea, is eaten by any Hokkaido tourist.
Even food with “Only at Shinchitose Airport” wrapped tourists. Due to the nature of the island, all visitors to Hokkaido must pass through the “gwanmun” Shin Chitose Airport. There are even standing pubs that fry potatoes on the spot in the middle of the airport, bake cookies and cheesecakes, and sell limited-edition draft beer, which is rare in Sapporo. The price is an evil level. A beer costs 1,600 yen (about 15,000 won). What would it have been like after drinking it. I promised to visit this place again to eat this.
Hokkaido was strong in storytelling as well as “limited edition food.” The trees towering in the snow-covered fields were named and given a narrative. I witnessed two Korean couples taking wedding pictures against the backdrop of trees in the cold weather, which is close to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Hokkaido has a huge area of 80% of South Korea’s area, but due to its harsh natural environment, its population is just under 5 million people, one-tenth of that of Korea. However, as of 2024, the number of lodging tourists reached 8.32 million. This is the result of a combination of excellent natural wind, narratives added to it, and premium food.
Let’s turn our heads and look at our country. Korea is also a tourism powerhouse with 18.7 million visitors last year. Outstanding natural windfalls are also scattered everywhere. With the activities of K contents, narratives about tourist attractions were also added. K-foods such as ramen and chicken are also popular. It has everything, but the chronic disease remains. Even this is centered on the metropolitan area. “Only in Jeju Island” and “Only in Gangwon Province”…. The reality is that these brands do not come to mind except Jeju citrus and Hoengseong Korean beef. Local governments across the country are trying to attract population to prevent local extinction, but even so, it is a top stone by removing the bottom stone. At a time when the total population of the Republic of Korea is plummeting, taking away the population of other local governments is a cut-throat. Hokkaido has not been able to avoid a population decline. After peaking at 5.69 million in 1995, it turned to a decline, and it is estimated that the 5 million mark collapsed last year. However, as long as Hokkaido’s tourism narrative is alive, local extinction will not occur. Tourists will continue to come, and someone will settle down in the “money place.”
Local extinction measures learned in Hokkaido are very simple. It is a K-vibe that can encompass K-content, beauty, and food. The “premium K-vive,” which makes satisfied tourists spend their own money, not “rip-off tactics,” should spread to the provinces, not just to the metropolitan area. There is an educational institution that served as the foundation for making today’s Hokkaido. The name of the school itself is Sapporo Agricultural School, which remains the name of a famous food brand. William Clark, the American who created the school, left a famous saying that everyone knows. “Boys, be ambitious.”
I hope the heads of local governments, who will be newly elected in June this year, will have this ambition.
[HAN WOURAM, head of content planning department]
AloJapan.com