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http://dx.doi.org/10.14770/jgsk.2016.52.5.527

A case study on the geotrail revitalization in the Jeju Island Geopark  

Jeon, Yongmun (World Heritage Office, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province)
Koh, Jung-Goon (World Heritage Office, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province)
Ki, Jin-Seok (World Heritage Office, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province)
Lee, Soojae (Korea Environment Institute)
Publication Information
Journal of the Geological Society of Korea / v.52, no.5, 2016 , pp. 527-538 More about this Journal
Abstract
Suwolbong has been visited by few tourists until recently because it has been poorly known to the public and hasn't been readily accessible although it is regarded as a world-famous locality with great geological value where the diverse depositional structures of tuff rings are observable. Jeju government has begun to hold Geopark Trail Festival annually since 2011 in order to promote tourism in this area. The Suwolbong Geopark Trail includes Suwolbong, Dangsanbong, and Chagwido Island, and the festival was upgraded year by year by including programs such as field excursions of specialists, geopark interpreters, and the general public. As the festival became widely known, the number of visitors reached 330,000 in 2015. Because of the increasing number of visitors, more pensions and cafes were opened, thereby increasing the income of the villagers. The geopark activity in the Suwolbong area in the last five years has made a big change in the villagers' awareness of the geopark. They began to realize the global value of the geoheritage in their hometown, feel pride about their hometown, and protect the geoheritage with all their heart. These changes demonstrate that Geopark program plays a crucial role in local communities in terms of positive advance of the locals' mind and activation of local economy through Geotourism like geotrail events with a rising number of visitors.
Keywords
geopark; Jeju Island; geotrail; geotourism;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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