Kim Woo-young Gwanggyo Column Focus on Barrier-Free Tourism Environment for 'Suwon Visit Year 2026-2027'

The proclamation ceremony for 'Suwon Visit Year 2026-2027' was held at Suwon Convention Center on February 24th. I was also invited and seated at a round table in my capacity as a committee member of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival.

Many people attended. It was nice to see faces I hadn't seen in a long time. More than 1,000 people attended, including residents and civil society organization officials, heads of government agencies, diplomatic envoys, and tourism industry officials.

Mayors from nine sister and friendship cities, including Phoenix, Arizona, Freiburg, Germany, and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, also sent congratulatory messages via video.

On this occasion, Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun said, "Suwon is a city with sufficient capabilities to lead K-content and drive the era of 20 million Korean visitors," and emphasized that it will open an era of 15 million annual tourists as a turning point of the 230th anniversary of Hwaseong Fortress construction and the 30th anniversary of UNESCO World Heritage designation.

At this event, Seon Eun-im, Director of Suwon City's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced five major promotion strategies.

Director Seon is a civil servant whom I know well. A veteran who has served as head of Yulcheon-dong in Jangan-gu, head of the Administrative Support Division in Jangan-gu, head of the Health Administration Division at Jangan-gu Health Center, director of tourism, and spokesperson. He is regarded as a warm-hearted person. Always smiling. He is also outstanding in implementation ability, empathy, and situational judgment.

Director Seon announced plans to promote △strengthening tourism content capabilities △attracting tourists through mega projects △customized event operations △improving tourism reception capacity △and developing diverse tourism products.

The memorable details included strengthening K-culture-based content such as drama filming site tours and activation of public hanok villages, and raising city brand value by linking large-scale MICE events such as the Gyeonggi Indie Music Festival and the World Tourism Industry Conference.

In addition, the city will apply universal design to tourism signage to create an intuitive viewing environment and comprehensively renovate convenience facilities along major routes. The goal is to ensure that everyone can travel comfortably by attending to the details.

Suwon City has created a 'barrier-free tourism' environment where elderly people and people with disabilities can travel without inconvenience. This year, the city was uniquely selected among all local governments nationwide in the Cultural, Sports and Tourism Ministry's competition for the 'Barrier-Free Tourism Connectivity Strengthening Project' aimed at creating a travel environment with no restrictions for all tourists, including people with disabilities, elderly people, pregnant women, infants and their companions. National funding of 4.25 billion won has been secured.

The city has established a 'Suwon-Style Barrier-Free Tourism Strategy'.

'Everyone Enjoy Route' – an experience-centered barrier-free tourism model that allows people with transportation difficulties to tour conveniently by utilizing distinctive transportation methods such as Suwon Palanquins and Hwaseong Palanquins.

'Everyone Healing Route' – a pedestrian-friendly tourism route centered on Paldal Mountain and Hwaseong Fortress where visitors can enjoy both nature and historical resources.

'Everyone Experience Route' – a community-oriented tourism route that connects Hwaseong Haenggung Palace Square as a hub with cultural facilities such as art museums, museums, and performance venues, as well as the commercial area in Haenggung-dong. City officials state that they plan to ensure that tourist movement naturally translates into local consumption.

Do people with disabilities lack the desire to travel? On the contrary, the need is more urgent. However, travel for people with disabilities is not easy. There are too many restrictions on movement, viewing, and experience. The fact that only 5.4% of people with disabilities travel (according to the 2023 Survey on People with Disabilities) proves this.

As a result of Suwon City's active efforts to improve travel convenience for people with disabilities, Suwon Hwaseong Yeonmudae, Suwon Hwaseong Jangan Gate, and Hwaseong Haenggung Palace were selected as 'open tourist attractions' where barrier-free tourism is possible.

Another commendable policy of the city is 'barrier-free tourism for people with visual disabilities.' It is an integrated tourism service that provides transportation and detailed explanations from cultural and tourism guide interpreters to people with visual disabilities.

I believe that barrier-free tourism is a priority project that Suwon City, having proclaimed the 'Suwon Visit Year 2026-2027,' must actively promote and publicize.

Barrier-free tourism that shows consideration for social minorities such as people with disabilities, elderly people, and pregnant women can become a new tourism market. If the city makes more effort in developing customized tourism programs, Suwon will become a world-class accessible tourism city. And it will have meaningful impact on the local economy.