A historic district in Seoul, South Korea, is the latest destination to implement tourism controls in the wake of growing visitor numbers that have swamped the neighbourhood.
900 historic hanoks
Bukchon Hanok Village sits in downtown Seoul, in Jongno, conveniently close to other popular cultural sites such as the Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces and the Jongmyo royal shrine. But it is not only the village’s proximity to landmarks that makes it popular with visitors. They come for the area’s incredible collection of 900 “hanoks” – a traditional Korean style of house dating as far back as the 14th century.
Once home to high-ranking members of society, many of the houses have been restored and are still inhabited, by people whose struggles with the thousands of curious tourists that arrive daily are evident in the signs they have put up asking people not to loiter near their property.
Escalating problem
In a 2011 poll of foreign visitors, Bukchon was their fourth favourite tourist activity in Seoul. By 2018, official signs in four languages had been installed in an effort to reduce tourist noise levels. Now the problem has become so pronounced that officials are putting measures in place to limit tourist access to the area. Under the country’s Tourism Promotion Act, from October 2024, Bukchon will become South Korea’s very first “special management area”.
Non-residents will have to observe strict overnight curfews between 5 pm and 10 am. Tourist bus routes will be restricted in a drive to make the area more pedestrian. And a traffic light colour code will be used to keep crowds in check in the busiest streets and anyone ignoring the rules will be slapped with penalties, authorities have said.
“This won’t make a big difference”
But not everyone is convinced the new measures will make a difference. According to one businessperson, the curfew serves little purpose because tourists usually leave before the deadline anyway. “In the winter, visitors are gone by 5 pm and during summer maybe by 6 pm because the days are longer,” café owner Lee Youn-hee said. “This won’t make a big difference.”
The problem is all too familiar, recalling similar problems elsewhere, such as the battle Japanese authorities are having with tourists in Kyoto, where geisha-obsessed photographers throng some streets. Attempts to tackle the imbalances between tourists and residents around the world range from polite requests for courtesy, to physical barriers, so-called “tourist taxes” everywhere from Iceland to Manchester and Venice, and even guerilla-style pranks on visitors.
