Enjoy Affordable Accommodations and Night Events

Yeosu, a City Full of Affordable Accommodations:
Hotels, Condominiums, Campsites and Community Centers
Expo Website … One-stop Shop for Tours, Accommodations and Restaurants

The Organizing Committee for Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea (chaired by Kang Dong-suk) announced that its call center has been receiving more than 150 inquiries a day about lodging facilities in Yeosu starting from the third day of the Expo, and the number continues to rise. There have been concerns regarding the number of visitors, since the opening day had lower number of visitors than expectation.

Increasing inquiries are mostly from families living in the metropolitan areas and group tourists who are looking for information on various accommodations such as condominiums, campsites, recreational forests and community centers that offer various hands-on experiences to guests. In response to growing inquiries, the Organizing Committee is providing relevant information and reservation service through the Expo website (www.expo2012.kr) and call center (1577-2012).

The city of Yeosu has 290 lodging facilities, offering 9,940 rooms in total that can accommodate 38,000 guests a day on average. Reservation rates in May are expected to reach 40~60% for motels and inns and 20~50% for temporary or alternative accommodations such as campsites, community centers and temple/church stays, so there will be enough accommodations for Expo visitors to stay.

The accommodations include 16 high-end hotels that offer 1,650 rooms, including the MVL Hotel that comprises 311 rooms and located within a five-minute walk from the Expo site and Hidden Bay Hotel with 131 rooms. They provide a 50% special discount to their guests during the Expo period. (170,000 won for a standard room at five-star hotels and 120,000~150,000 won for tourist hotels, on average)

More affordable and distinctive accommodations that offer hands-on experience are also ready to welcome guests.

▸ Yeosu Guljeon Recreational Campsite, Shinwol Youth Training Center and Wungcheon Chinsu Park Tent Village are recommended for students and families visiting Yeosu.


Guljeon Recreational Campsite was once a shut-down elementary school which was later renovated into an auto-camping site. It is equipped with all the amenities visitors would ever need, such as toilets, communal kitchens, and showers.

Shinwol Youth Training Center, built on an area of 32,000㎡, offers 240 tent complexes that can accommodate up to 1,600 guests. As the place is equipped with 100 tents for 4 persons, 100 Mongolian tents for 6 and12 persons each along with an air dome and a photo-zone, it is expected to be used both as a cultural space and a lodging facility for teenagers. Its proximity to Wungcheon Expo Terminal will give visitors an easy access to the Expo site and downtown areas.

Wungcheon Chinsu Park Tent Village has a tent complex where 180 campers can stay. The place is free of charge and is located near Wungcheon Expo Terminal, providing convenient transport to its guests. In the vicinity of the Wungcheon Chinsu Park Tent Village are a seafront park and Yeulmaru that has a grand performance hall where an audience of 1,000 can be seated.

▸ Tourists who want a special hands-on experience on Korean culture may find it attractive to use temple/church stay programs or stay in Korean home stays for international guests.

Temple stay programs are available at Heungguksa and Hyangilam that offer 29 rooms in 7 complexes in total that can accommodate 237 guests. In an effort to promote Expo visitors’ conveniences, accommodation programs has been newly added on their previous programs that are designed to help guests to clear their minds and live with the nature.

In participation with 139 churches in the Yeosu region, church-stay programs that offer 261 rooms are ready to welcome 4,800 group tourists.

Cho Yun-gu, the director of Tourism and Accommodation Division at the Organizing Committee, said “although there are a number of affordable hotels and alternative lodging facilities in Yeosu, very few cases of accommodations ripping off visitors have been exaggerated as though they are common practices.” He added that “lodging facilities in Yeosu have recently taken the initiative to drive down room rates as part of efforts to root out rip-off practices, so visitors, who take advantage of accommodation information provided on the homepages of Yeosu Expo and the city of Yeosu and stay in affordable facilities, will no longer need to be in hurry to go home at night. Instead, they would have time to enjoy Big-O show and other nighttime shows.”

Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea will run from May 12 to August 12 in New Port area in Yeosu under the theme of “The Living Ocean and Coast.” It operates the Theme Pavilion which is the first offshore pavilion in the world, the International Pavilion where 105 nations are participating, Korea’s largest Aquarium and 80 specialized exhibition facilities to display sea-related exhibitions. Approximately 90 cultural and art events are staged a day (8,000 in total during the Expo period), and the Sky Tower that features the loudest pipe organ in the world, a state-of-the-art maritime culture and art pavilion Expo Digital Gallery are also ready to welcome visitors. Admissions tickets are available at www.expo2012.kr, and all the Expo facilities and exhibitions are available with a single admission ticket.