DSM, a next-generation leisure platform company, announced it has signed a business agreement to organically connect 9.81 Park Incheon Airport with the nearby Paradise City and to conduct joint marketing efforts.
Paradise City is an integrated resort situated on Yeongjong Island, offering 1,270 hotel rooms, including Hyatt Regency Incheon and Paradise City, along with casinos, convention centres, spas, entertainment venues, and cultural and artistic facilities.
DSM's 9.81 Park is a cutting-edge leisure theme park featuring a range of experiential activities, including 'Gravity Racing,' enhanced with AI-driven recording, ranking, video, and gaming systems.
Since opening in 2020, 9.81 Park Jeju has welcomed over 3 million visitors, making it a key experiential tourist spot in Jeju. The upcoming 9.81 Park at Incheon Airport, set to open next spring, will be built on a large indoor stadium that can host about twice as many visitors as the Jeju location.
The aim is to draw more than 1 million visitors in the first year with new activities, advanced gaming systems, and next-generation racing vehicles featuring robotics and AI.
Strategic cooperation
The main goal of this agreement is to create a new K-tourism hub near Incheon Airport, aimed at serving the 70 million visitors each year, including about 8 million transit passengers and 26 million local customers in the metro area.
In particular, 9.81 Park Incheon Airport and Paradise City overlook each other across the Paradise City Station of the Incheon Airport Maglev Train, providing a strategic location that facilitates connection via a single tourist route.
The Yeongjongdo area where Paradise City and 9.81 Park Incheon Airport are located
Integrating dynamic leisure activities with culture, arts, and relaxation is expected to boost Yeongjong Island's appeal as a versatile tourism destination, attracting and engaging visitors of all ages, both locally and internationally.
Both companies aim to increase touchpoints for new domestic and international customers by utilising their existing customer bases and both online and offline channels. They also plan to collaborate on marketing efforts targeting foreign tourists.
Additionally, they intend to offer customers a unique tourism experience by creating bundled packages that combine the content and benefits of both facilities. Furthermore, they will develop and manage joint efforts in overseas inbound sales, MICE, group tours, educational and experiential programs, and joint campaigns.
They will also continuously cooperate to improve visitor mobility and transportation accessibility.
A DSM official says: "Through this MOU, we have been able to establish a new type of tourism experience where visitors can experience dynamic K-leisure content realized with cutting-edge technology at 9.81 Park and enjoy culture, art, relaxation, and entertainment at Paradise City.
"By combining the strengths of both companies, we will create a representative K-tourism hub centered around Incheon Airport that attracts domestic and international tourists, and strengthen our global tourism competitiveness."
Also in the area, wellness resort developer Therme Group has signed an agreement with the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Authority to develop Therme Korea. South Korea's new destination will be located within Songdo Golden Harbor, a 427,000-square-metre tourism and leisure district in Incheon.
