Tours to focus on rural experiences

The government is starting a rural tourism program for foreigners today to provide them with rural experiences. The program will last for three months through November and it hopes to attract 2,000 foreign guests, including those visiting the country during the G-20 Summit in November.

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday that it is offering two-day trips to farming and fishing villages for foreigners.

It is part of the “Rural 20 Project” to promote rural areas in the country as tourist destinations.

The program consists of one- or two-day trips to rural areas and has four different themes: experience, nature, orientation and well-being.

Experience trips will provide opportunities to harvest fruits and farming products, while nature trips will allow visitors to appreciate the beautiful nature of the peninsula. Orient trips will take tourists to traditional villages full of old houses, and well-being tours are designed to focus on health and leisure.

The ministry plans to recruit foreign tourists at Korean language institutes and embassies in the country.

The ministry also intends to promote the program to visitors for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, in late September.

“The program is the first trial to introduce the country’s rural areas as tourist attractions to the world outside Korea,” an agriculture ministry official said.

More information is available at the Web site (www.rural20.kr) in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.

By Limb Jae-un [jbiz91@joongang.co.kr]