The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a new initiative to promote travel outside of Seoul next year, recommending destinations based on different themes.

The ministry selected its top sightseeing cities outside of Seoul. Separated into 10 regions, the new travel promotion initiative highlights themes such as “Peace and National Security,” “Road to Pyeongchang,” “Seonbi (classical scholar) Culture,” “Time Travel” and “Islands and Wind.”

To allow travelers to get the best out of a single trip, the itineraries group cities together based on proximity and theme.

One of the itineraries suggests hitting Danyang, Jecheon, Chungju and Yeongwol as a group of destinations under the theme “Nature and Healing.” Another combines trips to Ulsan, Gyeongju and Pohang under the theme “Sunrise and History.” 

Earlier this month it was announced that the country had hit a record high number of tourists this year, with the number expected to surpass 17 million by the end of the year. The figure is roughly 3 million tourists higher than the previous record of 14.2 million set in 2014. 

According to the Culture Ministry, the figure also recorded a 28.5 percent increase from last year, when tourism had plummeted following the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak here in 2015.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)