Chungcheongnam-do has partnered with the major retail conglomerate GS Retail to successfully promote the '2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Year'. They've signed a large-scale business agreement to vitalize regional tourism and enhance brand value. The signing ceremony, held at the provincial office on May 30th, was attended by key officials including Kim Beom-soo, Director General of Chungcheongnam-do's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, and Lee Seung-jun, Head of GS Retail's Business Division, solidifying their commitment to mutual cooperation.

This agreement focuses on attracting more domestic and international tourists to Chungnam and widely promoting Chungnam's appeal through GS Retail's nationwide distribution network. Both organizations plan to pursue diverse cooperative projects starting next month until the end of 2026, when the '2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Year' concludes.

 
Expanding Everyday Promotion of Chungnam Tourism

The most notable cooperative project is the enhanced promotion utilizing the extensive accessibility of GS25 convenience stores. Promotional posters for 'Visit Chungnam Year' will be displayed on the entrance doors of approximately 900 GS25 convenience stores within Chungcheongnam-do, naturally exposing Chungnam tourism information to residents and visitors in their daily lives. Furthermore, promotional videos for 'Visit Chungnam Year' and monthly Chungnam posters will be broadcast through GSTV, the in-store video display system, and POS systems at GS25 stores to capture customers' attention. Related audio messages will also be played through the convenience store's background music (BGM) system, maximizing the emotional promotional effect that encompasses both sight and sound.

 
Joint Marketing and Regional Economic Revitalization

Beyond simple promotion, Chungcheongnam-do and GS Retail will discover and pursue various collaborative projects to enhance the brand value of both organizations and create joint marketing effects. Chungcheongnam-do will support GS Retail in producing promotional materials to help them spread their image as a "cooperative company." Based on this, GS Retail plans to actively expose and market Chungnam's regional brands through its distribution channels.

In particular, Chungcheongnam-do plans to actively utilize GS25 mobile gift certificates as prizes for tourism promotions and events, thereby inducing practical tourist participation alongside promotional effects. This is expected to provide direct benefits to consumers and motivate them to visit Chungnam. Additionally, one of the key tasks of this agreement includes product development cooperation utilizing local specialties, aiming to promote coexistence with local farmers and small business owners and accelerate regional economic revitalization. This is anticipated to bring positive ripple effects across the entire regional industry, not just attracting tourists.

 
Enhancing Content Competitiveness with 'Wordigardi' Characters

The development and sale of character merchandise utilizing the intellectual property (IP) of Chungcheongnam-do's representative tourism characters, 'Wordigardi,' will officially begin in the second half of this year. Unveiled in February 2024, 'Wordigardi' consists of 'Wordi,' motivated by the goshawk, a symbol of Chungnam, and 'Gardi,' inspired by the stone guardian excavated from Baekje King Muryeong's Tomb. 'Wordi' is derived from the Chungcheong-do dialect word "eodi" (where), signifying vibrant travel in Chungnam, while 'Gardi' is taken from "guard," wishing for safe travel. Combined, they form the double meaning of "Eodi Gaji?" (Where are we going?).

'Wordigardi' has already been utilized for various merchandise such as SNS content, print materials, T-shirts, keyrings, plush toys, and teacups. It has also been actively used in various programs and events, including workation, tour passes, camping festivals, and pop-up stores. Through this collaboration with GS Retail, securing a nationwide distribution network for 'Wordigardi' character merchandise is expected to further strengthen Chungnam's unique content competitiveness and make it more appealing to younger generations.

 
'2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Year' Vision and Strategy

Chungcheongnam-do aims to attract 50 million tourists by 2026 through the '2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Year'. To achieve this, a total of 348.8 billion won will be invested to complete 41 tourism resource development projects: 27 in 2025 and 14 in 2026. Key projects include the creation of the Gongju Baekje Culture Center, the Geumsan Geumgang Yeoulnmokgil Barefoot Walking Project, the Yesan Yedangho Good Rural Experience World, and the creation of the Taean Cheonsuman Ecological Wetland and Exploration Trail.

Chungcheongnam-do is also fully committed to spreading the enthusiasm for 'Visit Chungnam Year' by conducting roving campaigns in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Gyeonggi Provincial Office, Incheon City Hall, Suwon Station, and Songdo. In addition, Chungnam-do is promoting various tourism policies, such as the creation of historical-cultural-green tourism belts, the development of 7 tourist road routes, support for nurturing tourism startups, healing-themed tourism products, and West Coast Sunset & Dining, striving to establish a sustainable tourism ecosystem.

Kim Beom-soo, Director General of Chungcheongnam-do's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, stated about this agreement, "We expect to showcase a win-win tourism revitalization model where businesses and local governments work together." He added, "We will continue to do our best to widely promote the charm of Chungnam tourism through various private cooperative projects and establish it as a representative cultural and leisure hub of Korea." This agreement with GS Retail is evaluated as a significant driving force for the successful '2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Year' that Chungcheongnam-do aims for.