Korea is seeking to inaugurate Gite Korea, the Korean version of Gites de France, designed to make available Korea’s rural villages, houses, classic Korean cottages, and houses with gardens on the outskirts of cities for tourists’ stay.

Rep. Kim Kwang-lim of the ruling Saenuri Party, hailing from Andong, and Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, of the opposition Democratic United Party, from Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, organized a policy discussion session on the establishment and operation of the integrated brand of Korean-type culture experience and accommodation at the National Assembly on Sept. 6 in a run-up to the inauguration of the Gite Korea Foundation slated for October. 

Gite is the French word for an attractive and affordable holiday house for rent. Gites de France, which made their debut in 1951, have now grown into a major French tourism business segment, which posted 1.776 trillion won in 2011.  Rep. Kim said, “The Gite Korea Foundation will be established and operated in connection with local governments, including Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeollanam-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Gyeonggi-do or with the private sector to set up a new Korean-style tourism system.”

The committee for preparing the establishment of Gite Korea will sign an MOU with Gites de France in which Korea will learn the French side’s experiences and expertise such as operational manuals, development of experience programs, the designation of pilot gites, and remodeling business. The Gite Korea project will integrate a small-village project, a theme-space project, a comprehensive rural village development program, and other projects now under way across the country, and unify all spaces that are abandoned or have the potential of availability under a sole brand. 

The project calls for remodeling classic traditional Korean houses rather than rebuilding them, in principle, for the purpose of maintaining Korean heritage and attracting in-bound tourists, and the so-called “Farm Stay,” “Korea Stay,” and the hanok (traditional Korean houses) projects will be the beneficiaries of the Gite Korea project if they join it, Rep. Kim said. 

He predicted that the boosting of the Gite Korea project will address a shortage of accommodations, which poses as one of woes and problems Korean and foreign tourists experience, and will improve confidence in the Korean tourism infrastructure. 

SEMINAR ON ESTABLISHMENT OF GITE KOREA 

About 100 people, including foreign and Korean experts, attended the symposium, which took place at the Andong Culture and Art Hall on July 12. Among those on hand at the symposium were Patrick Farjas, vice chairman of the National Federation of Gites de France, who spoke about the history of Gites de France and rural renewal. 

Farjas explained about Gites de France’s marketing strategies, including the use of its common brand, common marketing and reservation system, based on the Gite network in each country of Europe, the classification of rural tour products and quality control and the development of new rural tour products. 

Rep. Kim said in a speech at the symposium, “Korea saw the number of foreigners touring Korea surging from 6.45 million in 2007 to 9.79 million in 2011, particularly those on an experience or sojourn tour were seen rising. But the downside is that there are insufficient accommodations and facilities to meet the rising number of tourists.”

In this regard, the government has implemented urban accommodation support projects and culture experience accommodation support projects, including  “Korea Stay,” “Good Stay,” “Benikea,” “Hanok Experience Accommodation Support Project.,” Nonghyup and other organizations are engaged in the implementation of the “Farm Stay” and other rural life experience programs. 

Urban accommodation support projects have ended up focusing only on solving accommodation problems sans the experiencing of Korean culture, whereas Hanok Experience Accommodation Support Project and other experience-type accommodation programs are not only insufficient to meet the rising demand, but also result in negligible revisits due to a lack of users’ access and convenience.

The symposium was designed to establish and operate the Gite Korea program as a solution for coping with rising tourism demand, Rep. Kim said. 

The Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial government has pushed for the establishment of Gite Korea for the past two years, demanding that the province, which accounts for almost half of the decades-old houses existing across the country, should be the headquarters of the Korean-style culture experience accommodation brand project. 

The provincial government declared the establishment of the common brand of a Korean-style culture experience accommodation program during the symposium while setting up its branch offices in metropolitan areas across the nation with the establishment of a civic foundation slated for full-fledged operation in the second half of the year.

In the meantime, in an effort to facilitate the implementation of the new project, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are in charge of offering educational consulting services to member families of traditional Korean houses and rural theme-oriented villages; the Gyeongsang-buk-do provincial government is charged with organizational and operational systems; and the proposed civic foundation is to take charge with the operation of a reservation system via a website, the development of service manuals, a publication, and an international network. 

Kim Chung-sup, director general in charge of culture, tourism, and sports at the Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial government, said the symposium was designed not only to promote global collaboration down the road by building a detailed and integrated accommodation culture system by discussing ways of establishing effective publicity, marketing, and utilization, but also to serve as an opportunity to set a milestone for the resurgence of the nation’s  regional tourism industry. 

ANDONG, CENTER OF CULTURAL HERITAGE 

The Andong International Maskdance Festival made its debut on Oct. 1, 1997, based on the Hahoebyolsinguktalnori of the Hahoe Village, which has been put on the UNESCO World Heritage list. 

Historical documents show that King Gongmin of Goryeo stayed in Andong to take refuge against a Chinese rebels’ invasion in the 14th century, and King Chungryeol also stayed there during Korean-Mongolian allied forces’ military action against the Japanese. Andong’s international standing got a boost when Queen Elizabeth II visited the city in 1999. Academics take note of the fact that King Gongmin was revered as a god by villagers in Andong during his stay of less than two months. 

The International Mask Arts & Culture Organization (IMACO) held its inaugural congress on Sept. 29, 2006 with representatives from 35 countries in attendance in Andong. The 2nd IMACO Congress took place in Bangkok in 2009. The 3rd IMACO Congress is slated for Nov. 23 to Nov. 26, 2011, in Bali, Indonesia. IMACO is the world’s sole organization created to study masks and mask cultures. IMACO’s roles also range from preserving and studying mask cultures of tradition to publicizing the excitement of mask dances and cultural feelings with a concern for the industrialization of mask cultures. 

Andong is a center of Confucian culture inheriting the lifestyle and spirit of old-time scholars with a taste for the arts and literature. A city with classical scholars?study tradition, Andong has Korean spiritual cultural roots as one of the highly educational cities around the country, as the city boasts of such major tourist attractions as the Dosan Confucian School, Nongunjeongsa Temple, Hahoe Folk Village, and the Korea Studies Advancement Center.

Andong is also a hub of Buddhist culture, which plays a role in the history of traditional Korean spirit. The major features of Buddhism in the Andong area are associated with moves to sublimate Buddhism into an ideal society, so people in the Andong district gain enlightenment and peace of mind while visiting temples. To name a few, there are the Bongjeongsa Temple; Icheondongseokbul-sang, a Buddhist statue; the Bonghwasa Temple; the Sinsedong 7-story brick pagoda; the Jotabdong 5-story brick pagoda; and the Dongbudong 5-story pagoda.

There are such folklore cultures as “Chajeonnori,” “Notdaribakki,” “Jebiwon,” a birth place of a shamanistic religion; and Hahwabyolsingultalnori, a mixture of global mask dance and Korean excitement that can be experienced only in Andong. Such folklore items and experiences such as Hahoesonyujulbulnori, Handushilha-engsangsori and Jeojeonnongyeo are also seen there.