Regeneration of Fishing Ports as Tourism Industry in Republic of Korea

Factor analyses were performed on fifty eight national fishing ports in Korea, excluding ones on remote islands, with respect to their latent tourism potential, and they were classified as historical/cultural type, fisheries industry-oriented type, tourism development type, nature preservation type, or fishing port-dependent type. Then, cluster analyses were performed to examine these fishing ports from the perspectives of fisheries industry/preservation type and recreation/development type. Results of analyses on tourism characteristics of fishing ports according to the typology indicated regionally uneven trends. In addition, the results of our analyses on the fishing ports with respect to latent tourism potential and tourism structural characteristics showed that the most important contributing factors were production quantity of fisheries products and moorage facilities, followed by nature tourist sites, harbor fixed-water area, and outlying facilities, in that order. Therefore, in developing fishing ports for tourism in the future, political measures are required to enhance fisheries industry bases for maintaining the function of fishing grounds, and, additionally, projects for improving the environment, such as purification of harbor water, are necessary.