According to Gangwon Province on the 20th, the number of vacationers who visited the province’s east coast beaches from last month to the middle of this month was 6,131,977, a 14% increase over the same period last year.
In most of the six cities and counties on the east coast, including Gangneung, Goseong, Samcheok, Donghae, and Sokcho, the number of visitors increased by more than 8% compared to the previous year. However, the ‘surfing mecca’ Yangyang is the only place where the number of visitors decreased by about 10% compared to last year (767,560).
Analysis suggests that the main reason is that negative perceptions have recently increased as young people who want to enjoy entertainment rather than surfing have flocked to Yangyang.
Yoo Dong-cheon, who runs a surfing shop, said on his YouTube channel last month, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people came here from Seoul to avoid business restrictions and enjoyed parties, and the perception of being promiscuous seems to have changed. There is no awareness of surfing itself.” “It’s getting better,” he said.
He said, “The number of customers is decreasing by half every year. There are quite a few owners who are trying to close their stores. The impact on sales is huge. Surf shops have to make up for a year’s deficit with sales during the peak season, which is only 20% of what they would normally do.” explained.
https://news.mt.co.kr/mtview.php?no=2024082100215636886
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