Alpensia gives boost to PyeongChang’s Olympic bid

By Kang Seung-woo

Staff reporter

The Alpensia Resort, whose name means “Alps in Asia,” has mostly been known as an add-on to PyeongChang’s Winter Olympic bid.

The newly-built resort in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, 180 kilometers east of Seoul, will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics if the country claims the right to host the “elusive” Winter Games in its third straight bid next year.

But Cha Sang-gu, the president of Alpensia Corporation, has tried to gain independence from the Olympic campaign as the resort is ready to establish itself as the nation’s best year-round composite tourist complex regardless of the Games.

“Thanks to PyeongChang, we have been well advertised in and out of Korea and it will get even better if the city bags the Games,” Cha said in an interview with The Korea Times at the resort, located 700 meters above sea level.

“But even in the case of failure, there will not be any serious damage to us because Alpensia is well prepared to stand on its own feet.”

Gangwondo Development Corporation (GDC), the parent company of the Alpensia Corporation, began constructing the resort independently in June 2004 with its sights set on contributing to the economy of Gangwon Province and establishing it as a hub for Korean tourism.

“Although Alpensia and PyeongChang are in the same boat because several Olympic events will be held here, the resort was not built exclusively for the Winter Olympics,” Cha said.

Currently, sites for ski jumping, cross country and biathlon have been constructed, and bobsleigh and skeleton runs are scheduled to be built if PyeongChang hosts the Games.

“It is regrettable that Alpensia is being viewed as only related with the Winter Olympics,” he said.

“But after visiting the resort, people are surprised after sampling its cutting-edge services.”

Alpensia, completed in June 2009, is a rare species of the industry in that it is a four-season resort that differentiates itself from others, most of which focus only on the winter season.

“For resorts, the biggest problem is how to deal with the slack season, so we decided to create a composite resort to deal with this,” said Cha, who joined GDC in March 2009 after running an accounting firm and a golf course in the United States.

“People can enjoy golf and a water park in summer, while they can ski in winter. During the spring and fall seasons, the convention center is a good place for seminars and conferences, along with school excursions. In Korea, Alpensia is virtually the first composite resort in operation all the year round and it is the largest.”

Alpensia, which raised its curtain with hotel and golf links in July 2009, evolved into an all-purpose resort by opening ski slopes last November and a convention center earlier this month. Its grandiose plan was capped with the opening of the water park 700” last week.

With its goal of growing into a world-class resort, Alpensia has teamed up with top-tier partners for the management of its services.

Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) manages the resorts hotels — the InterContinental Alpensia PyeongChang Resort; the Holiday Inn Resort Alpensia PyeongChang; and the Holiday Inn and Suites Alpensia PyeongChang — which offer a total of 900 rooms. The InterContinental is the only five-star hotel located in any resort complex in Korea.

Troon Golf Management Company, a Florida-based corporation, manages the 45-hole golf course — 18 holes open to the public and 27 for members.

As the first in the nation, it has a golf village next to the fairway along the members’ course, where about 300 residences provide views over the greens.

The course enables golf-crazy Koreans to enjoy a round even at nighttime thanks to the region’s cool weather.

The convention center has a variety of halls, which can accommodate from 20 to 2,000 people, while the in- and outdoor Ocean 700 enables all generations to enjoy fun-filled facilities.

Alpensia will hold the seventh Great Mountains International Music Festival in its concert hall from July 23 to Aug. 13.