Heading to Cheorwon in August: ‘Everywhere Festival’ Brings Together Gangwon’s Tourism, History, and Content
Heading to Cheorwon in August: ‘Everywhere Festival’ Brings Together Gangwon’s Tourism, History, and Content
Posted July. 13, 2026 10:44,
Updated July. 13, 2026 17:44
-Cheorwon County will host the "2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon" from August 15 to 17, gathering local organizations, startups, and small businesses to showcase Gangwon State's unique historical, ecological, and cultural tourism resources.
-By integrating digital technologies like AI with local resources, tourism startups and small businesses are co-developing unique products and services. This collaboration powers a "Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem" designed to increase tourist stays and boost local consumption.
-Building on last year's success—which drew nearly 5,000 tourists—the 2026 festival features about 50 teams offering flea markets, AI-powered tourism services, media art, and family programs to drive sustainable regional revitalization.
Cheorwon County, Gangwon State(hereafter Cheorwon) will host the ‘2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon’ from August 15 to August 17 at Gimwha Sports Center for All Facilities. Co-hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Gangwon State, and Cheorwon County, and organized by the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and the Gangwon State Economic Promotion Agency, this event brings together local organizations, startups, and small business owners to promote Gangwon State’s unique tourism resources, history, and content.
Cheorwon has established itself as a major tourist destination, possessing diverse historical and ecological tourism resources, including the DMZ(DeMilitarized Zone) and the Hantangang River Geopark. Recently, international tourists have also begun visiting the area. Together with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Cheorwon has devised a plan to build a "Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem" to increase the length of stay for both domestic and international tourists, leading to increased local consumption and regional revitalization.
The core of the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem is Gangwon State’s local companies. First, tourism startups are creating content that delivers new travel experiences by integrating digital technology, including AI, into Gangwon State’s resources, history, and culture. Examples include AI-powered recommendations for tourist courses, interactive media art, services for international tourists, and digital tourism content. By verifying and upgrading this content, they are strengthening the competitiveness of Gangwon State’s tourism industry and contributing to the development of sustainable tourism content.
Small business owners are introducing existing products that capture the charm and advantages of the region, as well as new products created in collaboration with tourism startups, to tourists. This leads to increased sales, boosted local consumption, strengthened competitiveness for small business owners, and job creation. The role of the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem is to create a virtuous cycle where these achievements are reinvested into the region, leading to continuous corporate growth.
Last year, Cheorwon held the ‘2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon’ with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. Through this event, they laid the foundation for the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem with 18 participating tourism startups and 71 local small businesses and startups.
At this event, tourism startup Gamja Island(CEO Gyuhyun Kim) and local small business Cheorwon Odaemiju(CEO Sejong Jin) co-developed an event-exclusive product, ‘Rice Beer,’ and showcased new tourism products utilizing local resources. They combined the technology of tourism startups with the production capabilities of small business owners to create content, products, and sales channels together. There was even a case where tourism content created jointly by startups and small businesses gained popularity among domestic and international tourists and was developed into an official Cheorwon tour product. Participating companies gave the event a satisfaction score of 100 and expressed their willingness to continue collaborating with Cheorwon.
Thanks to this, the 2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon attracted nearly 5,000 domestic and international tourists. The event generated approximately 69 million KRW in on-site sales, and with the addition of a local gift certificate refund program, it spurred over 14 million KRW in additional consumption.
Based on these achievements, Cheorwon is gathering about 50 teams, including tourism startups, small business owners, and local institutions, to prepare various content for the 2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon. Examples include a space for experiencing tourism startup technology, a flea market, tourism services utilizing AI content, interactive media art, and busking performances. A children's musical screening for family tourists, riding experiences, and a bicycle competition, the Strider Cup, will also take place. Cheorwon has also prepared measures to increase tourists' length of stay an
The Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation supports tourism startups in collecting tourist data to upgrade their services, and assists small business owners in building product planning, marketing, and customer service strategies. The goal is to expand a cooperative system where tourism-related companies and the region grow together.
An official from Cheorwon stated, “Through the 2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon, we achieved various results, including attracting domestic and international tourists, increasing sales in the local commercial district, commercializing tourism businesses, and collaborating with local companies. It was a project that confirmed the possibility of reviving the local economy through tourism. Together with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, we will connect the innovative technology of tourism companies with the tourism resources of Cheorwon. We will build a sustainable tourism ecosystem that leads to a stay-type tourism culture and, further, to regional mutual growth and job creation.”
By Joo-kyung Cha (racingcar@itdonga.com)
-By integrating digital technologies like AI with local resources, tourism startups and small businesses are co-developing unique products and services. This collaboration powers a "Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem" designed to increase tourist stays and boost local consumption.
-Building on last year's success—which drew nearly 5,000 tourists—the 2026 festival features about 50 teams offering flea markets, AI-powered tourism services, media art, and family programs to drive sustainable regional revitalization.
Cheorwon County, Gangwon State(hereafter Cheorwon) will host the ‘2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon’ from August 15 to August 17 at Gimwha Sports Center for All Facilities. Co-hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Gangwon State, and Cheorwon County, and organized by the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and the Gangwon State Economic Promotion Agency, this event brings together local organizations, startups, and small business owners to promote Gangwon State’s unique tourism resources, history, and content.
2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon poster / Source = Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation
Cheorwon has established itself as a major tourist destination, possessing diverse historical and ecological tourism resources, including the DMZ(DeMilitarized Zone) and the Hantangang River Geopark. Recently, international tourists have also begun visiting the area. Together with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Cheorwon has devised a plan to build a "Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem" to increase the length of stay for both domestic and international tourists, leading to increased local consumption and regional revitalization.
The core of the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem is Gangwon State’s local companies. First, tourism startups are creating content that delivers new travel experiences by integrating digital technology, including AI, into Gangwon State’s resources, history, and culture. Examples include AI-powered recommendations for tourist courses, interactive media art, services for international tourists, and digital tourism content. By verifying and upgrading this content, they are strengthening the competitiveness of Gangwon State’s tourism industry and contributing to the development of sustainable tourism content.
Small business owners are introducing existing products that capture the charm and advantages of the region, as well as new products created in collaboration with tourism startups, to tourists. This leads to increased sales, boosted local consumption, strengthened competitiveness for small business owners, and job creation. The role of the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem is to create a virtuous cycle where these achievements are reinvested into the region, leading to continuous corporate growth.
2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon site / Source = Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation
Last year, Cheorwon held the ‘2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon’ with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. Through this event, they laid the foundation for the Cheorwon-style tourism ecosystem with 18 participating tourism startups and 71 local small businesses and startups.
At this event, tourism startup Gamja Island(CEO Gyuhyun Kim) and local small business Cheorwon Odaemiju(CEO Sejong Jin) co-developed an event-exclusive product, ‘Rice Beer,’ and showcased new tourism products utilizing local resources. They combined the technology of tourism startups with the production capabilities of small business owners to create content, products, and sales channels together. There was even a case where tourism content created jointly by startups and small businesses gained popularity among domestic and international tourists and was developed into an official Cheorwon tour product. Participating companies gave the event a satisfaction score of 100 and expressed their willingness to continue collaborating with Cheorwon.
Thanks to this, the 2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon attracted nearly 5,000 domestic and international tourists. The event generated approximately 69 million KRW in on-site sales, and with the addition of a local gift certificate refund program, it spurred over 14 million KRW in additional consumption.
2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon program site for foreigners / Source = Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation
Based on these achievements, Cheorwon is gathering about 50 teams, including tourism startups, small business owners, and local institutions, to prepare various content for the 2026 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon. Examples include a space for experiencing tourism startup technology, a flea market, tourism services utilizing AI content, interactive media art, and busking performances. A children's musical screening for family tourists, riding experiences, and a bicycle competition, the Strider Cup, will also take place. Cheorwon has also prepared measures to increase tourists' length of stay an
The Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation supports tourism startups in collecting tourist data to upgrade their services, and assists small business owners in building product planning, marketing, and customer service strategies. The goal is to expand a cooperative system where tourism-related companies and the region grow together.
An official from Cheorwon stated, “Through the 2025 Everywhere Festival in Cheorwon, we achieved various results, including attracting domestic and international tourists, increasing sales in the local commercial district, commercializing tourism businesses, and collaborating with local companies. It was a project that confirmed the possibility of reviving the local economy through tourism. Together with the Gangwon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, we will connect the innovative technology of tourism companies with the tourism resources of Cheorwon. We will build a sustainable tourism ecosystem that leads to a stay-type tourism culture and, further, to regional mutual growth and job creation.”
By Joo-kyung Cha (racingcar@itdonga.com)
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