Hwacheon County will open the ‘2018 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival‘ in the Hwacheon area of Hwacheon-eup in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do from January 6th to 28th in the new year. Hwacheon is expected to increase the number of foreign tourists looking for Korea ahead of the Olympic Games next year, and will focus on attracting foreign tourists. The PyeongChang Olympic Games will be held from February 9 to 25 in the New Year. The Olympic Festival opens just 12 days after the closing ceremony.
Hwacheon County decided to establish a festival shop for the first time in Korea to attract foreign tourists. A 200-square-meter duty free shop will be built in the festival hall to sell items preferred by foreigners, such as department stores, airport duty free shops, and Pyeongchang Olympic souvenirs. A foreigner can get VAT and individual consumption tax when they purchase tax-exemption goods of 30,000 won or more and submits the receipt to the tax refund counter when leaving the country.
If a duty-free shop is installed at the festival ground, Hwacheon County expects it will help the local economy by promoting the consumption of foreign tourists. The 2017 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival held earlier this year has attracted more than 115,500 foreign tourists. The total number of visitors to the 2017 Festival is 1.56 million, and one out of 15 tourists who visit the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is a foreigner.
Get Booking your Day tour of this festival
Accordingly, Hwacheon-gun strengthens the service for foreigners. It is planned to make a dedicated gourmet restaurant for foreigners in the fishing area so that foreigners can enjoy the fresh fish on the spot. Foreigners’ private transportation to and from Hwacheon is also newly established in Seoul. It is a direct bus to the festival place via Myeong-dong at the entrance of Seoul Hongik University. The cost is free.
The festival runs Brunei’s Day (Jan. 13) and Colombian Day (Jan. 19), as well as an invitation to the USFK. The festival also provides foreign interpreters and guidance services. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is made up of six languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, French, German and Spanish. It provides convenience for foreigners to understand and enjoy theHwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival.