Hwacheon, preserving its excellent natural environment as well as a continuously improved surroundings, is investing heavily into the tourism industry and festivals. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is Korea’s representative winter festival with 1,3...
Hwacheon, preserving its excellent natural environment as well as a continuously improved surroundings, is investing heavily into the tourism industry and festivals. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is Korea’s representative winter festival with 1,330,000 visitors to its 8th annual celebration in 2010, up from 220,000 visitors to the 1st festival in 2003. The Sancheoneo Festival has the advantages of being symbolically Korea’s representative winter festival while holding onto the image of being a program representing festivals. The disadvantages are that limitations in scale are present related to it being a winter activity and its cultural deficiencies. Besides the festival period, there are few visitors to Hwacheon while many of the facilities and experience villages around the festival site are operated without any connection to one another. Also, there are many difficulties in Sancheoneo supplies since Sancheoneo's external supply rate is so high.
This research investigated Sancheoneo, the Sancheoneo fish farm, the Sancheoneo Festival, and the theme park while the Sancheoneo Festival and similar Korea winter festivals along with the cases of experience sites using Korea and Japan's Sancheoneo and facilities and experience villages around Sancheoneo festival sites were examined and analyzed.
Also, the role of the Sancheoneo theme park was deduced by understanding the necessity of the Sancheoneo theme park while suggesting plans related to the surrounding facilities and experience villages.
The role of the Sancheoneo theme park is to establish the cultural identity of the Sancheoneo Festival by expanding the time span from its currently periodic festival and make related experiences possible by strengthening recognition as well as expanding and connecting the festival and event sites. This solidifies the programs’ dimension by collectively connecting the individual themes, becomes the starting point of Hwacheon’s interconnected tourism course, and plays the role of a comprehensive tourism information center as a gateway of Hwacheon.
The Sancheoneo theme park construction plan based on an eco-sancheoneo fish farm with the above roles is as follows:
First, the Sancheoneo theme park must be forged as an environment friendly site as well as an educational site about the ecosystem which imposes the image of a “clean” Hwacheon. Second, the Sancheoneo fish farm must be an efficient eco-friendly site which can give a stable supply of sancheoneos for the Sancheoneo festivals and where a series of fish farm systems are related in consecutive order while the fish farms should be designed in harmony with the surrounding sceneries. Third, the experience sites must be usable throughout the year including during the Sancheoneo festival while it should be made to be utilized as a site of education about the ecosystem by being made into eco-friendly experience facilities. Also, the roles of eco experience and education must be made possible. Forth, diverse sights, enjoyments, and foods should be provided, and the role of a comprehensive tourism information center where related tours are possible is required through the installation of a public relations information booth about Hwacheon.
Lastly, it needs to be a site which can intensify the recognition of the Sancheoneo theme park through the installation of various facilities as well as a site which create the “clean” image of Hwacheon.
The Sancheoneo theme park construction plan was made to be the starting point of “tour Hwachoen" by providing many related experiences and viewing programs to tourists who visit Hwacheon beyond the festival periods. The formation of the Sancheoneo theme park is intended to make the Sancheoneo Festival more proactive and help establish the cultural identity of Hwacheon. However, this study has limitations in having targeted only some of the facilities and experience villages around the Sancheoneo theme park. Therefore, future studies about plans for making the natural environment and cultural factors in entire the Hwacheon area interrelated from diverse perspectives must be carried out.