Foreign tourists can rent hiking shoes or crampons, providing an opportunity to experience various hiking courses on Gwanaksan Mountain in Seoul more conveniently.
The Seoul Tourism Foundation announced on the 25th that it held an opening ceremony for the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center located in the Udeung Park on Gwanaksan Mountain in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and began full-scale operations.
The 'Seoul Hiking Tourism Center, Gwanaksan Branch' was established inside Gwanaksan Station on the Sinlim Line and began trial operations in November of last year.
The Seoul Hiking Tourism Center provides differentiated tourism content for foreigners by utilizing Seoul's hiking infrastructure. The Gwanaksan Center is the third center operated by the Seoul Tourism Foundation, following the centers in Bukhansan and Bugaksan.
The opening ceremony on the 24th was attended by around 200 people, including Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, members of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the Seoul City Council, the head of Gwanak-gu, the chair of the Gwanak-gu Council, and global hiking mates from both domestic and foreign countries.
After the celebratory ceremony held at Udeung Park, the attendees walked along the forest path of Gwanaksan Mountain, visiting the sandy path and valley camping forest while experiencing the hiking trails.
The Gwanaksan Center provides various hiking courses and tourism information about Gwanaksan, offering multilingual guidance services in English, Japanese, and Chinese for foreign tourists.
Additionally, to support the convenient and safe hiking of foreign tourists, hiking equipment such as shoes and crampons can be rented at a low expense.
In celebration of the official opening, hiking equipment will be lent free of charge to foreign tourists until June 30.
Reservations can be made in advance, and equipment can be rented on-site through the official Instagram of the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center.
In addition, prior to the opening ceremony, the launch ceremony for the new global supporter community of Seoul Hiking Tourism, called 'Global Hiking Mate,' was held. The Global Hiking Mate aims to allow both locals and foreigners to experience the charm of hiking together in the beautiful mountains of Seoul, while promoting Seoul's mountains globally.
This year, the Global Hiking Mate consists of 100 micro-influencers, including 67 foreigners from 27 countries and 33 locals, possessing followers ranging from 1,000 to 3,000. They will be offered benefits such as free lending of hiking equipment, priority participation in hiking experience programs, and issuance of activity certification.
Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, noted, "The number of foreign tourists visiting Seoul has noticeably increased recently, and for tourism to lead to domestic consumption activation, it requires unique tourism content in Seoul that allows foreigners to stay longer and enjoy. In that sense, I hope that the newly opened Seoul Hiking Tourism Center, Gwanaksan Branch, will serve as a base for hiking tourism and play a role in achieving the goal of 30 million foreign tourists."
Gil Gi-yeon, the CEO of the Seoul Tourism Foundation, stated, "The fact that the cumulative number of visitors to the Bukhansan and Bugaksan centers exceeded 40,000 since the opening of the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center in 2022 is an indicator that Seoul hiking tourism is receiving continuous interest." He added, "We will actively nurture hiking tourism content linked with K-hiking culture in the future."