Gyeongsangbuk-do (Governor Lee Cheol-woo) held the opening ceremony of Santa Village at Buncheon Station in Socheon-myeon, Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do on December 21, 2019, and announced the opening of Santa Village by February 16.

The Santa Village, which is operated by Gyeongsangbuk-do and Bonghwa-gun, KORAIL's Gyeongbuk headquarters and local residents, is a festival to showcase the Korean winter festival. Every year, content and events are held in order to establish itself as a representative tourist destination in the winter season, and visitors are growing year after year.

The Santa Village, which is now in its sixth time, is one of the best examples of the future revitalization strategy for the tourism industry in Gyeongsangbuk-do, and has become the ideal type of revitalization of the local economy that attracts more than 100,000 tourists each time through public-private partnership. The success know-how here has a positive effect on the tourism policy of Gyeongsangbuk-do, and a variety of visitors-oriented services and events are being realized.

The opening ceremony was held in conjunction with the ‘Buncheon Santa Village Trekking Tournament', which was selected as the 2019 Walking Tour Festival by the Korea Tourism Organization. Consisting of the first course (22km) and the second course (12km), the competition attracted a lot of attention as participants could enjoy Santa Post Office, Santa train, Santa Rail bike as well as Samgut-grilling (cooking cones, potatoes, etc. in the pit with heat) in Santa Village. On the day of the opening ceremony, a wide variety of programs such as nail art, face painting, Santa roulette, orchestra march, and 15 second video experience were held.

▲ Santa Village, which makes Buncheon Station a festival venue, also came this year.

▲ Buncheon Station, where the Santa Village was held, is known as a base for mountain inland travel in Korea.

▲ In line with the opening of Santa Village, tourists from all over the country gathered.

▲ Prize events were very popular with crowds.

▲ With one of the oldest anthropological recipes, ‘Samgut-grilling’, eggs, potatoes, and sweet potatoes were provided free of charge according to the schedule.

▲ The opening ceremony of the Santa Village began with the Marching Parade, which was attended by a nearby school band.

▲ Buncheon Station, which is inland, couldn’t keep snow for a long time due to global warming, so it was possible to see the snow scene only around major sculptures.

Buncheon Station, where the Santa Village was opened, is a gathering place for inland train travelers, including the V-train. On the use of these characteristics, major experience programs such as Santa sledding, feeding alpaca, making Santa strawberry finger food, Samgut-grilling, traditional folk games, and Santa Post Office are carried out throughout the operation period of Santa Village.

The Bonghwa-gun is planning a Santa character sculpture, Christmas street maintenance, photo zone, user-generated content (UCC) and photo essay contest for consistent branding. In addition, it is striving for the success of the Santa Village by arranging snow plows in response to global warming and creating a white snowy field when conditions, such as temperature, permit.

Through such investment and sincerity, Buncheon Station has become the home of Santa Village, Korea's representative winter festival, in the rural simple station. And has become the representative tourist attraction of Bonghwa-gun, where an average of 1700 visitors visits each day during the period.

On the other hand, Son Sam-ho, head of the domestic marketing team of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, was awarded the Appreciation Plaque for his successful settlement in Santa Village and his contributions in major tourism promotion policies. At the award ceremony, he revealed that he plans to grow Santa Village as a new tourist resource in Gyeongsangbuk-do, and announced that he will make efforts to promote tourism in Gyeongsangbuk-do with his know-how.

▲ Major officials from local governments such as Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Eom Tae-hang, Governor of Bonghwa-gun, visited the Santa Village and prayed for the success of the festival.

▲ Son Sam-ho, head of the domestic marketing team of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, received the Appreciation Plaque for the successful settlement of Santa Village.

▲ Santa Village is showing the epitome of the local festival held by the Korean local government and beckoning to not only Koreans but also foreign tourists.