Amid the shrinking tourism industry due to the prolonged COVID-19, attempts are being made to secure travel destination safety in cooperation with current quarantine experts.

The Gyeongnam branch of the Korea Tourism Organization (President Ahn Young-bae, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation) announced "10 Gyeongnam Safe Outings" to spread the atmosphere of daily quarantine of travel destinations and find an opportunity to recover the ecosystem of the local tourism industry. These 10 places were selected by establishing a thorough quarantine system along with an environment that can prevent the spread of infectious diseases as much as possible, taking advantage of the advantages of Gyeongsangnam-do, where the number of confirmed Korona cases compared to the population is significantly lower. Above all, quarantine experts are drawing attention as a new attempt to increase the reliability of travel destination safety by directly participating in the selection standards and on-site inspections.

Kang Yoon-Sik, a professor of preventive medicine at Gyeongsang National University who prepared quarantine standards and participated in the field evaluation, said, "The development of vaccines and treatments is underway, but it will take a considerable amount of time for all citizens to enjoy free travel as before. Instead of sitting and waiting for the end of Corona, I joined the project in sympathy with the purpose of managing it as space where people can travel safely based on thorough quarantine," he said. "I will continue to play a necessary role as a quarantine expert.“

The 10 tourist attractions selected for the safe outing are △ Jinju Castle △ Namhae German Village △ Tongyeong DPIRANG △ Hapcheon Video Theme Park △ Gimhae Gaya Theme Park △ Changwon Jinhae Maritime Park △ Hadong Samseonggung Palace △ Geoje Inner Island △ Goseong Danghangpo Tourist Site △ Sacheon Sea Cable Car. They will thoroughly observe distance keeping in life considering visitors' access and movement and manage all spaces and facilities such as ventilation and disinfection, and deployment of quarantine managers as a quarantine system.

The corporation, which planned the campaign, works with Gyeongsangnam-do and the local governments to establish a regular quarantine system for these tourist attractions, including the deployment of safe helpers, quarantine education, and periodic quarantine checks. Park Chul-Beom, head of the Gyeongnam branch of the corporation, said, "The project focuses on spreading a culture in which the tourism industry takes the lead in creating safe tourist attractions rather than attracting many tourists." "We will also present a new model of creating safe travel destinations so that Korea can become a global example in the quarantine of tourist destinations," he said.

Choi Yong-chul