As the Jeju Haenyeo’s “party meal” has received favorable reviews from the Japanese travel industry,..

Invited by daily travel agency tourism product planning and sales practitioners, a fam tour will be held to respond to gastronomic experiences with Jeju’s unique stories such as haenyeo culture and local food

사진 확대 Recently, tourism product planning and sales practitioners of major Japanese travel agencies who participated in Jeju Island and JTO’s fam tour are experiencing Jeju’s local food.[Courtesy of JTO]

As the Jeju Haenyeo’s “party meal” has received favorable reviews from the Japanese travel industry, attention is focused on whether it will be able to attract Japanese “luxury tourists” to Jeju.

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju Tourism Organization (JTO) announced on the 8th that they recently invited heads of major Japanese travel agencies to Jeju to conduct a fam tour to target the Japanese premium tourism market.

Head-level practitioners of eight representative Japanese travel agencies who participated in the fam tour formed a connection through a meeting of the local travel industry hosted by the JTO last year. They are in charge of planning and selling tourism products in Japan.

Through this fam tour, Jeju Island and JTO introduced Jeju-type premium tourism contents consisting of various themes such as nature, wellness, local culture, and activities. In particular, the “Family Feast Dining with Haenyeo Mother and Daughter” program, jointly organized by JTO with Jeju City’s Iho Fishing Village, was highly praised by the participants of the fam tour for its gastronomic experience with Jeju’s unique story.

Through a walking tour guided by the granddaughter of the Haenyeo Family, who has been haenyeo for three generations from grandmothers to granddaughters, they experienced the culture of haenyeo, such as Bulttuck, where haenyeo came out of the water and rested for a while to enjoy fire, and Sadang, where they performed Haesinje, a ritual to pray for a good fish, while tasting Jeju local foods such as body soup, Umi Cold Soup made of Umeotgari, and Jeju-style grilled sundae, Hanchi Minari pancake, and octopus rice at the wedding ceremony, and continued discussing joint commercialization as a sustainable local.

Jeju Island and JTO are also focusing on welcoming guests to luxury cruises from Japan as one of their marketing aimed at high-income Japanese travelers.

Viking Yi Dun, a medium-sized luxury cruise from Japan that called at Jeju Port on the 4th, is a premium ship with balconies in all rooms, with the main passengers being high-income Japanese travelers. When the cruise arrived in Jeju, JTO welcomed the cruise by presenting Guazle souvenirs, a traditional Jeju snack, and showcasing fusion Korean traditional music. In particular, it received positive response by providing port products that combine haenyeo material viewing and yacht tours.

JTO plans to commercialize Jeju-style high value-added tourism content in earnest, focusing on wellness, local culture, activities, and gourmet food, in the wake of the successful Jeju port of Pam Tour and Viking Eden Cruise.

A JTO official said, “We will lead the demand for premium Japanese tourism by discovering differentiated tourism contents that combine stories and experiences with major Japanese travel agencies.” Reporter Ko Kyung-ho of Jeju