Visit 76 locations in 10 courses nationwide to get your stamp… ‘National Heritage Passport’ a hot item
A 50-year-old housewife who completed the tour in 7 months… Creator who took a certification shot wearing Hanbok
All additional copies, including the 75,000 copies this year, will be distributed… Heritage Foundation “10,000 more copies will be produced and distributed”
Kim Hyun-jin (34), a hanbok creator who visited Beopjusa Temple in Songnisan Mountain, Boeun-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do in June of this year while wearing a light green hanbok, stopped by the Beopjusa Temple self-experience zone and stamped his “National Heritage Visitor Passport.” He has collected 40 stamps so far. He posts videos on Instagram promoting the beauty of men’s hanbok and often visits historic sites that go well with hanbok, but stamping his National Heritage Visitor Passport stamps has become another pleasure. Kim said, “At first, I went there to take videos, but now collecting stamps from beautiful historic sites has become another goal.”
The National Heritage Visitor Passport is emerging as a ‘hot item’ that is not easily available these days. This virtual passport, which is made to be similar in size to an actual passport as part of the ‘National Heritage Visit Campaign’ jointly conducted by the National Heritage Administration and the National Heritage Promotion Agency, can be issued online and offline and stamped at 76 locations on 10 courses nationwide. Depending on the number of stamps, you can also receive products such as a passport case and a ready bag. If you stamp all 76 locations, you will be awarded a completion certificate and a crystal certification plaque. It was originally a simple stamp tour, but it has become more popular since the introduction of the passport in October 2022.
According to the National Heritage Promotion Agency, all 75,000 passports scheduled to be issued this year were sold out in the first half of the year. An additional 35,000 copies were produced, but even these quickly sold out. As of this month, 199 people have visited all 76 places listed on the passport. Choi Eun-jung, head of the regional cooperation team at the promotion agency, said, “The response was so hot that an average of 300 calls were made to the call center per day asking for new passports.”
Visitors cite the fact that they can see domestic attractions at a glance and that it serves as a special travel souvenir as a popular factor for the National Heritage Passport. The tour course consists of representative attractions that fit the concept of showing off the charms of each region. For example, the ‘Gaya Civilization Road’ centered on the Gyeongsang region includes 7 Gaya tombs registered as UNESCO World Heritage sites last year, such as the Jisan-dong Ancient Tombs in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and 9 other places, including the Royal Tomb of King Suro and the Gimhae National Museum. The ‘Royal Road’ in the metropolitan area consists of Namhansanseong Fortress, Changdeokgung Palace, and the Hwaseong Yungneung and Geolleung tombs, which are the tombs of Crown Prince Sado and King Jeongjo.
In addition to well-known cultural heritages, there is also the fun of finding hidden treasures. Shin Yu-mi (55), a full-time housewife, completed a nationwide passport tour with her friend from July of last year to March of this year. She traveled around the country once every two weeks to Gangwon, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang provinces. Shin said, “I was deeply moved by the magnificent tombs of the Gaya civilization,” and “I am now more interested in domestic travel than overseas travel.”
Passport tours are also popular for children’s education. According to the promotion agency, 32.7% of men and 52.9% of women who applied for passports are in their 30s and 40s, and most of them are accompanied by young children. Kim Dan-woo’s (7) father, Kim Yong-min (47), completed the passport tour over two years from September 2021 to September of last year. Kim said, “I have stamped my stamp in almost every local government in our country,” and “I spent a meaningful time traveling around the country with my child every weekend, learning about history and the wisdom of our ancestors.”
The Promotion Agency plans to produce and distribute an additional 10,000 passports within this year. Applications are accepted on the National Heritage Visit Campaign website, and 1,500 copies will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis on the 20th of each month to prevent early depletion.
Reporter Sa Ji-won [email protected]
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2024-08-26 02:38:35