Suwon Special City Achieves Grade 1 for First Time in Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's 'Regional Tourism Development Index Evaluation'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Junseong] Suwon Special City achieved Grade 1 in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's '2025 Regional Tourism Development Index' evaluation. This is the first time Suwon City has been selected as Grade 1 since the Regional Tourism Development Index evaluation began in 2015.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture and Tourism Research Institute conducted a comprehensive evaluation of tourism competitiveness, including tourism accommodation capacity, tourism consumption power, and tourism policy capabilities, across 168 local governments nationwide (17 metropolitan and 150 basic), assigning grades (Grade 1 through 6). The Ministry has been surveying and releasing the Regional Tourism Development Index on a two-year cycle since 2015.

Suwon City, which remained at Grade 3 from 2015 to 2021, rose to Grade 2 in 2023, and with this evaluation, entered Grade 1 for the first time, proving its potential to advance as a 'global cultural tourism city.'

The city recorded a total score of 102.95 points. This was 16.88 points higher than the national average for basic local governments (86.07 points). The tourism accommodation capacity index recorded 106.65 points, and the tourism consumption power index recorded 123.18 points.

The city received high evaluations as indicators related to tourism consumption, including the number of tourists, tourism expenditures, and tourist satisfaction, increased substantially. Accommodation, food and beverage, shopping, and safety sectors also all received high evaluations, earning recognition for competitiveness as a 'stay-type tourism city.'

The city has continuously fostered the three major festivals of Suwon—including historical and cultural tourism content centered on the UNESCO World Heritage Suwon Hwaseong, the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, the joint reenactment of King Jeongjo's Royal Procession, and Suwon Hwaseong Media Art.

Recently, the city has focused on expanding nighttime tourism and stay-type tourism content, including the Manseokgeo New Light Festival, Gwanggyo Drone Festival, and nighttime openings of Hwaseong Haengung Palace.

Additionally, the city has made Haengnidan-gil in the Haenggung-dong area a tourism destination, and attracted tourists through specialized MICE tourism based on the Suwon Convention Center, sports tourism, and culinary tourism.

Taking this Grade 1 achievement as an opportunity, the city plans to accelerate the '2026-2027 Suwon Visit Year' project in conjunction with the 230th anniversary of Suwon Hwaseong's construction in 2026 and the 30th anniversary of its UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2027, and will push ahead to advance as a global cultural tourism city.

In addition, the city plans to strengthen tourism industry competitiveness through expanding barrier-free tourism, specializing in nighttime tourism, strengthening stay-type content, and expanding tourism big data-based policies.