South Korea’s all purple Banwol Island

South Korea’s all purple Banwol Island

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(CNN) – A South Korean agricultural community has reinvented itself by becoming a perfect attraction for the Instagram era.

Banwol Island, on the west coast of central South Korea, became known as “the purple island” after painting the roofs of some 400 buildings in a lovely shade of lilac. In addition, there are lavender fields, amethyst-colored phone booths and a large purple bridge.

And with the country’s borders essentially closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, people hungry for travel are migrating to the area. Between June and August 2020, more than 100,000 visitors came to Banwol Island, a 20% jump from the previous year.

Since 2018, more than 490,000 guests have visited the islands.

The project was planned in 2015 as part of the South Jeolla Province brand initiative to “create attractive island destinations” and was inspired by the purple bell towers (also known as bell towers) that are native to the area.

The small islands of Banwol and Bakji have less than 150 residents in total. Since the beginning of the purple project, farmers began to cultivate kohlrabi and beet, both branded. The local government planted 30,000 New England asters and 21,500 square meters of lavender fields.

Visitors can walk between the two islands via – you may have noticed this – another purple bridge.

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The purple bridge was repaired and repainted in early 2020.

Courtesy of Shinan County Office

To meet the new wave of tourists, there are a few more amenities on the island, including a café, two full-service restaurants (one in Bakji and Banwol), bicycle rental services and a small hotel. It takes about six hours to get there from Seoul by bus or private car.

Banwol’s risky but beautiful move seems to be paying off. South Koreans who leave the country and return are subject to a two-week quarantine when they return, so most residents are opting for domestic tourism.

Colorful cities are popular with travelers, even before they were designed specifically for social media. Izamal’s bright yellow “magic pueblo” in the Mexican state of Yucatan was painted in its golden hue to honor a visit by Pope John Paul II or to repel a plague, depending on whom you ask.
Chefchaouen, in Morocco, was all painted blue by a Jewish community that settled there and considered the color good luck. Although the community has moved on a long time ago, the bright tones remain a source of joy.

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