Villages of Jeju, South Jeolla make it onto Best Tourism Villages list

Jeju Island's Sehwa Village made it onto the list of the Best Tourism Villages. / Captured from UNWTO website

Three Korean tourist sites ― the villages of Dongbaek and Sehwa on Jeju Island and Mosan in South Jeolla Province ― have been recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as among the world's Best Tourism Villages.

The U.N. agency unveiled the third edition of the list last week during the 25th General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. This year's list features 54 villages, chosen out of almost 260 applications for their contributions to fostering rural areas and preserving landscapes.

Located in Jeju’s Seogwipo City, Dongbaek Village is reputed for producing local products made from camellia including oil and soap. The name Dongbaek means camellia in Korean.

Sehwa Village has been actively promoting the culture of the “haenyeo” (female divers) that was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Culture Heritage list in 2016.

Mosan Village in Hwasun County is one of the world’s top dolmen sites where visitors can get a glimpse of life during the Bronze Age. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

“Tourism can be a powerful force for inclusivity, empowering local communities and distributing benefits across regions," UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. “This initiative acknowledges villages that have harnessed tourism as a catalyst for their development and well-being.”

Launched in 2021, the UNWTO’s Best Tourism Villages initiative is part of its Tourism for Rural Development Programme that seeks to facilitate development and inclusion in rural areas and fight depopulation, among others. It evaluates the submitted villages based on nine criteria including environmental sustainability, infrastructure and connectivity and health, safety and security.

Other villages on this year’s list include Cantavieja in Spain, Douma in Lebanon and Xiajiang in China.