MOU connecting trails in the East and trails in the West

-Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Olle Foundation and Galicia Tourism Agency signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

□ Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Olle Foundation and Galicia Tourism Agency signed an MOU at the Santiago Pilgrimage Route Visitor Center on November 8, 2017, to create a trail of healing and cure and further expand it across the world.

With this MOU, the three organizations will work together to both conserve and take advantage of eco-friendly trails, develop eco-tourism, and build a cooperative network with other trails and routes around the world.

In particular, building a linkage between the Pilgrimage Route in Santiago and the Olle Trail in Jeju, as representative walking trails in the East and the West respectively, will encourage other trails in different part of the world to join in stronger cooperation with each other. For that, the International Road Conference will be held in Jeju in September 2018.

Representatives from the Galicia Tourism Agency will visit Jeju, a World Cultural Heritage site, and see first-hand how valuable the UNESCO triple-crown honors are.

□ Santiago Pilgrimage Route and Jeju Olle Trail have been playing a pioneering role in changing the patterns of tourism. This year Santiago Pilgrimage Route saw people from 179 countries come walk through the route. The route serves as a catalyst for people from different cultural background to better understand each other while hiking together. The route had about 4,600 people from Korea alone, which ranks 12^th in the number of visitors to Pilgrimage Route.

Since the Jeju Olle Trail was first opened in 2007, the trail has been playing a pivotal role in transforming the pattern of tourist activities into qualitative tourism.

In the future, Jeju Provincial Government will build a system to provide sustainable support and cooperation so that the Olle trail can be conserved better and developed further into the world.

□ In the meantime, Director Nava Castro of the Galicia Tourism Agency said at the signing ceremony, “Jeju and Santiago shall work more closely to develop trails in the world”. President Suh Myung-sook of Jeju Olle Foundation said, “I hope that walking through trails can help us conserve the environment beyond national borders and work toward the future together.” Director-General Kim Yang-bo of the Environmental Conservation Bureau said, “I believe that now walking can not only provide healing but also serve as a venue for reconciliation and sharing for further development through better understanding of different cultures and history.”

In addition, in connection with the signing of an MOU, the visitor center displayed the pictures of volcanic island and lava tube and haenyeo (woman divers) until November 12, giving an opportunity for visitors from different countries to feel what Jeju is like.

<picture> Jeju Special Self-Governing Province – Jeju Olle Foundation – Galicia Tourism Agency, signing an MOU