Jeju aims to revive tourism amid fatty black pork controversy

Social Affairs

Published: 10 Jun. 2024, 10:05 Updated: 10 Jun. 2024, 19:20

Jeju aims to revive tourism amid fatty black pork controversy

People pass by the Geonip-dong Black Pork Street in Jeju City around noon on June 3. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Jeju is on a mission to woo tourists back to the island following a recent online controversy surrounding the serving of excessively fatty pork belly at its restaurants.

Geonip-dong's Black Pork Street in Jeju City, renowned for its black pork specialty restaurants, was unusually quiet when the JoongAng Ilbo visited at noon on June 3.

Black pork comes from Jeju's black pigs, a specific Korean breed distinguished by its black-colored fur.

Most restaurants, except those that only open at night, were open but had very few customers — or none. Some store owners were seen on the street trying to solicit customers.

At one restaurant, only one group of foreign tourists could be seen enjoying lunch, while domestic tourists were scarcely seen on the street.

An online user shares a photo of fatty pork belly cuts on the grill in online community Bobaedream in late April, which sparked a heated debate. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The usually bustling street has taken a downturn after an anonymous tourist in late April posted online photos of Jeju black pork, or heuk-dwaeji, from a local restaurant, along with claims that the portions served were "98 percent fat."

The excessively fatty heuk-dwaeji sparked outrage among the public, who have long been frustrated with the overpriced food in Jeju.

“The street endured Covid-19 and the low yen crisis, but the visitor numbers dropped by more than half after the fatty heuk-dwaeji image spread massively online,” said a 43-year-old merchant surnamed Yang.

Geonip-dong Black Pork Street in Jeju City is quiet at noon on June 3. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Jeju restaurant owners say that the incident has adversely affected the number of domestic tourists, who make up 90 percent of visitors.

Following the fatty pork image, other tourists began posting about their bad experiences with overpriced food on Jeju.

One tourist reported paying 160,000 won ($116) for a galchi, or cutlassfish, dish, while another spent over 100,000 won on beverages and desserts over four days. In response to the backlash, some mackerel restaurants have reduced the price of the grilled fish from 12,000 won to 10,000 won.

The surge in overseas travel since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is further reducing the number of domestic tourists to Jeju Island.

Jeju International Airport [JOONGANG ILBO]

Recently, stories have been circulating on social media that trips to Japan or Southeast Asian countries are more cost-effective than visiting Jeju, further complicating matters in attracting people to take trips to the island.

According to the Jeju Tourism Association, as of June 2 this year, 5.01 million domestic tourists visited Jeju, a 7.8 percent decrease from the same period last year.

The total number of tourists hit 13.89 million in 2022 but dropped to 13.37 million last year, a 3.7 percent decline.

Domestic tourists saw a larger drop of 8.3 percent, falling to 12.66 million in 2023 from 13.80 million in 2022.

With domestic tourists accounting for most of the visitors to Jeju, their decline has impacted revenue across local stores.

Tourist spending in the first quarter, measured by credit card transactions, fell by 12.7 percent to 541.59 billion won compared to the same period last year, which was 620.56 billion won, according to the Jeju Tourism Association.

The number of domestic flights to Jeju International Airport also decreased by 530, or 2 percent, totaling 25,579 flights, with 125,630 fewer seats available, a drop of 2.5 percent compared to the same period last year. This brought the total to 4.87 million seats as of April this year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Conversely, international flights to Jeju and available seats more than tripled in the same period, reaching 4,658 flights and 851,110 seats.

Kang Dong-hoon, head of the Jeju Tourism Association, left, Byun Deok-seung, director of the Jeju Tourism Exchange, center, and Ko Seung-cheol, head of the Jeju Tourism Organization, announce plans to innovate Jeju tourism at the press center of Jeju City Hall on May 29. [JOONGANG ILBO]

In response to the decline in domestic tourists, Jeju Island will establish an emergency response committee to innovate its tourism sector. Co-chaired by the governor of Jeju and civilian representatives, the approximately 25-member committee will include representatives from the tourism industry, officials from related organizations and experts.

The committee will diagnose the problems, develop solutions and implement follow-up measures for major tourism issues.

Additionally, a Jeju Tourism Service Center will be installed. The Jeju Tourism Organization and the Jeju Tourism Association will collaborate to provide tourism information and promptly address tourism-related complaints.

Experts say that Jeju must offer quality services at reasonable prices and revamp its marketing strategies to reignite public interest.

Tourists enjoy the scenary at the Cosmosco Flower Garden located at Hangmong Historic Site in Aewol-eup, Jeju City. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Hong Seong-hwa, a professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Jeju National University, emphasized the urgency of changing the negative image of Jeju.

“Together with the businesses in the tourism industry, we need to strengthen innovative and unconventional ‘Jeju marketing’ that will arouse people's curiosity enough to make them want to visit the island,” Prof. Hong said.

BY CHOI CHOONG-IL, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]