Hello. This is the Realworld Experience Trend Letter. We've been enjoying beautiful sunny weather lately. Following May, numerous festivals are being held in June as well, including rose festivals, boat festivals, beer festivals, and mime festivals - the locations and themes are incredibly diverse. But wouldn't daytime hours be insufficient to fully appreciate the charm of these festivals?
The Korea Tourism Organization has created a brand called 'Korea Night Night 100' to introduce new and diverse nighttime tourism content. This includes not only tourist attractions but also various nighttime festivals that were previously unknown to many. While we typically think of festivals as being centered around bright daytime hours, it's quite fascinating to discover festivals that operate at night instead. In this edition, we'd like to explore more deeply the appeal of festivals and tourism that take advantage of nighttime hours.
A Nighttime Journey Through History: 'Jeongdong Night Walk'
'Jeongdong Night Walk' is Korea's first cultural heritage night event, launched by Seoul's Jung-gu District in 2015, and this year marks its 10th anniversary as Jung-gu's signature festival. Jeongdong, where various traces of modern history remain including Deoksugung Palace, Jeongdong First Methodist Church, and Paejae Hakdang, is a space that attracts many visitors even during regular times due to its uniquely serene atmosphere. But Jeongdong at night reveals an even more distinctive charm.
The 2024 'Jeongdong Night Walk' features diverse programs with 36 participating facilities including cultural properties, museums, exhibition halls, embassies, and art galleries. It's reported that 130,000 people visited and enjoyed the festival - an increase of 30,000 from the previous year. The unique differentiator of 'Jeongdong Night Walk' seems to be that visitors can study modern history while enjoying the festival. We hope that this festival will continue to tell the stories that the space of Jeongdong holds and remain an attractive festival.
Daejeon = The 'Fun' City: 'Daejeon Midnight Festival'
The 'Daejeon Midnight Festival' takes its name from the lyrics of 'Daejeon Blues,' a song released in 1956: 'The departing dawn train, Daejeon departure at 0:50.' Since its inaugural year in 2023, it's been what you'd call a huge hit. With the theme 'A time journey through Daejeon's past, present, and future,' various programs ran daily from 2 PM until midnight, true to its name. The 2023 festival attracted 1.1 million visitors, which represents the largest attendance for a single event since the 1993 Daejeon Expo. Additionally, 42.5% of visitors were from outside the region, showing potential for development into a nationwide festival.
The 'Daejeon Midnight Festival,' which has achieved such commercial success and garnered national attention by being selected for 'Korea Night Night 100,' is set to return in 2024 with even more powerful entertainment than last year. Daejeon has long been called a 'no-fun city,' but we're excited to see if this 'Daejeon Midnight Festival' can transform it into a 'fun city.'
Singapore's Night Becomes a Playground: Sqkii
Let's look at an international example. Singapore's tourism company 'Sqkii' has been running treasure hunt events under the theme '#HuntTheMouse' since 2017. Participants can search for token-shaped treasures hidden throughout Singapore to win real cash prizes, and it's gained such popularity that over 500,000 cumulative players have participated. In 2023, they partnered with delivery platform 'Pandamart' to offer prizes worth 100,000 Singapore dollars (approximately 100 million won).
What's unique about Sqkii's treasure hunt is the 'Late-Night #CashDrop' nighttime treasure hunting event. Participants in this event must find glow-in-the-dark tokens hidden somewhere on Singapore's Sentosa Island, and the first person to find a token receives 1,000 Singapore dollars (approximately 1 million won) in cash. Since the treasure locations change every hour, participants can be seen exploring various parts of Sentosa Island in search of treasure.
Because treasure hunting is simple enough that anyone of any age or gender can easily participate without much explanation needed, it has become a festival that all generations can join without resistance.
Discovering a Different Side of Cities Through Nighttime Tourism
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been selecting specialized nighttime tourism cities since 2022. This year, Gongju, Yeosu, and Seongju were selected, bringing the total to 10 cities. Why is nighttime tourism growing, as we've seen with the festivals mentioned earlier? It appears to be aimed at attracting visitors by differentiating from existing tourism content, and there are increasingly more cases of providing attractions that can't be seen during the day, such as fireworks displays and drone shows.
One small city selected as a specialized nighttime tourism city is reportedly preparing content that utilizes darkness, taking advantage of its low light pollution. And as we introduced in this article, unique content like nighttime treasure hunting could revitalize declining old city centers. In this way, nighttime tourism could become an advantage that allows competition with major cities.
Nighttime tourism showcases unique charm by beautifully blending the distinctive atmosphere of nighttime hours with stories that only each region possesses. I think that perhaps the true character of a city is revealed better at night than during the day. With hopes that various cities across Korea will be loved while showing off their own unique charms, we conclude this Experience Trend Letter.