Busan horse park becomes tourist spot

Children play an arcade game at the Busan-Gyeongnam Horse Park. (Photo : Korea Racing Authority)

Horse parks operated by the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) have become a family-oriented leisure destination for both Korean and foreign tourists as they offer a wide array of fun-packed events for people of any age.

Currently, there are three such theme parks. Those in Seoul and Jeju are well known, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

But the Busan-Gyeongnam Horse Park, which opened its doors in August 2001, has only recently attracted public attention as a popular leisure spot for those in the country’s southeastern region.

Besides watching horse racing, it enables visitors to enjoy many horse-related exhibitions and experiences including pony riding, an entertainment area and a sled hill available year-round for children as well as horse racing simulators.

From Monday to Thursday, visitors can enter the park and enjoy all the facilities free of charge. From Friday to Sunday, there is an entrance fee of 800 won ($0.70).

The admission is still substantially lower than that charged by nearby theme parks, the KRA said. It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. between March and November.

The park consists of six large sections where children and other family members can enjoy a wide range of horse-themed rides, view diverse horse-related exhibits and engage in physical activities.

“The Busan-Gyeongnam Horse Park has become popular these days with families looking to spend holidays on a tight budget,’’ a KRA spokesman said. “Just like our Seoul and Jeju parks, it has become a well-known leisure destination.’’

Horse racing used to grapple with an image problem because it was mostly viewed as centering around gambling.

“But it is not about gambling, but a family-oriented sport. Our horse-themed park has greatly improved the image of the horse racing over the years. Most of all, we are glad that we can offer parents a place where they can have fun with their children at affordable prices,’’ he said.

Thanks to the growing popularity of its leisure facilities, the number of visitors to the Busan-Gyeongnam Horse Racing Park jumped 10 percent to 1.05 million in 2011 from a year earlier. Its revenue also rose 4 percent to 2.16 trillion won.

The park paid 60.5 billion won in national tax and 175.5 billion in local tax last year. This helped to improve the financial standing of the Busan Metropolitan Government, which struggles with a revenue shortage amid the real estate market slump.

“The park had initially aimed to draw about 950,000 visitors last year. But it exceeded its goal. We think the park will attract even more people this year,’’ the spokesman said. <The Korea Times/Lee Hyo-sik>

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