 |
| A banner hangs in Jinhae County of Changwon City, Tuesday, calling on people to refrain from visiting the area as cherry blossom season is about to begin. / Courtesy of Changwon City |
By Jun Ji-hye
The southeastern city of Changwon and its residents are asking tourists to refrain from visiting the region amid concerns that many people will visit during peak cherry blossom season even after the city called off its signature cherry blossom festival due to COVID-19 fears, city officials said Thursday.
On Feb. 27, Changwon City in South Gyeongsang Province announced the cancellation of this year's Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, scheduled for March 27. The 10-day annual event with a 57-year history is the nation's largest cherry blossom festival that attracted more than 4 million visitors last year.
Despite the cancellation of the festival, hundreds of thousands of people are still expected to visit the area as flowers will come out anyway in the southern region where spring arrives first.
"We have many worries as there is no way to keep the public from visiting Jinhae," a Changwon City official said. "What we can do now is just enhance disinfection activities and ask people not to come."
While Changwon City has reported more than 20 coronavirus cases, there have been no patients in the Jinhae District of the city.
Jinhae residents are expressing concerns over possible transmission of COVID-19 due to the possibility of many visitors.
"I hope Changwon City will take more active measures such as restricting visitor access," a resident wrote on a Naver Cafe.
 |
| Visitors enjoy Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, the nation's largest cherry blossom festival, in this March 31, 2019 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Jeon Hae-won |
Amid mounting concerns, Changwon City officials have put up banners in Jinhae County calling for tourists to refrain from visiting the area.
Changwon Mayor Huh Sung-moo has also sent letters to 22,300 travel agencies in and outside the country, asking for their cooperation.
"We decided to cancel our signature Jinhae Gunhangje (Festival) as the top priority should be protecting the lives and safety of our residents," Huh wrote. "We ask people to abstain from visiting Jinhae, and hope for a prompt termination of the spread of COVID-19."
He vowed to draw up various support measures such as paying incentives for travel agencies to attract tourists for next year's event.
Changwon City has also canceled its sea squirt festival, another regional event that marks the onset of spring.
The three-day festival, which has traditionally taken place in April, has attracted about 300,000 visitors annually, contributing to the regional economy.
The city said it will come up with support measures for fishermen as the cancellation of the event could threaten their livelihoods.
Other than Changwon, an increasing number of municipalities have canceled regional festivals or postponed them indefinitely amid COVID-19 fears.
On Wednesday, Hampyeong County in South Jeolla Province announced the cancellation of the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival originally scheduled from April 29 to May 10.
"We will make thorough preparations so the event will be hosted successfully next year," a Hampyeong County official said.
There were 152 new cases reported Wednesday, a number back up to three-digit figures after infections had been tallied in double-digits for three days, bringing the total number of infections to 8,565, with 91 fatalities, the KCDC said.
