As tourism trends change due to the prolonged COVID-19, non-face-to-face tourist attractions such as Wolyeonggyo Bridge, Nakgang Waterway Park, Manheujeong, and Seonseonghyeon Culture and Tourism Complex are gaining new popularity.

In particular, the *MZ generation, which is more active and less afraid of COVID-19, is leading the domestic culture and tourism industry, and the place where they have been labeled as a suitable tourist attraction during the Corona era is the Andong Nakgang Waterway Park, called Giverny in Korea, and the Manchujeong, which became famous through the drama Mr. Sunshine.

According to the 2020 Summer Vacation Travel Satisfaction Survey released by Consumer Insight, a research institute, at the end of October, Andong City ranked 16th among local governments. Given the results of the same survey conducted in 2019, which did not rank below 60th, the popularity of Andong City can be realized.

Also, about 1,600 participants in the T-Map Uncontact Tourism Tour event visited Nakgang Waterway Park during the period (20.7.23-8.19), up 2,000% from 70 in 2019 this year.

According to a recent weekly survey of tourists' visits, Manheujeong has also become a hot place in Andong, which is visited by more tourists than Wolyeonggyo Bridge.

What these hot tourist attractions have in common is that they have gradually gained popularity through SNS, media, viral marketing, and travel snapshots, which have the greatest influence on the MZ generation.

This year, Andong City has implemented a special promotion strategy in line with the tourism trend.

First of all, at a time when Corona 19 showed signs of prolongation, 20 contactless healing destinations were introduced to form a consensus that it was a good place to take pictures and a place to visit most and provided a list for the MZ generation to take tourist coordinates.

Also, Andong City collaborated with A+E Networks, a media group that owns the world-renowned documentary channel HISTORY, to produce four tourism promotion documentaries and broadcast them simultaneously in 19 countries.

It has been steadily gaining popularity, including 8.4 million video exposure to online banners at home and abroad and 1 million views on official YouTube channels for history, and is also receiving positive responses from Instagram (4,000 views) and Facebook (150,000 views).

Through support for the production of "Begin Again Season 4," the company focused on exposing Wolyoung Bridge with beautiful night views and promoted Nakgang Waterway Park and Manheujeong Pavilion to various media outlets, which are visited by people in their 20s and 30s who lead the trip.

Through active cooperation with the Korea Tourism Organization, the tourism hub city was introduced to Korea and abroad. Korea Tourism Organization has produced Feel The Rhythm of Korea, which is gaining huge popularity, including this year's Advertising PR Grand Prize, and surpassed 35 million views in just one month on YouTube. Thanks to the popularity of the video, Thanks to the popularity of the video, a promotional video of Aikung Challenge, which featured the site of a related flash mob event, was aired in 11 countries around the world, including the United States and France, in early December.

Besides, Andong's episode of the 2020 Korean Culture Festival (K-Culture Festival), which contains Korean Wave content hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was sent worldwide through terrestrial and online channels in late November, confirming that Andong is at the center of the Korean Wave.

Angelina Danilova's visit to Andong, the No. 1 CF cast member in the entertainment program "Korean Foreigners," has been produced with five themed videos, including taste, old houses, and world heritage. The video was uploaded to 32 official SNS channels of the Korea Tourism Organization's overseas branches and to Andong City's official YouTube channel, highlighting the most Korean Andong from a foreigner's perspective.

Andong Mayor Kwon Young-se said, "We will actively respond to changes in the times by pushing ahead with tourism promotion strategies that meet non-face-to-face trends in the wake of the post-corona era, and create a tourist city that flies beyond Korea and around the world by taking full advantage of its advantages as a tourist hub city.“

*MZ Generation: A compound word of the Millennial Generation and Generation Z. People in their 20s and 30s who are familiar with the digital environment.

Source: www.andong.go.kr

Choi Yong-chul