Fancy a niche beach holiday? Try North Korea’s Wonsan Kalma resort, opened recently by Kim Jong Un and what he describes as a “world-class tourist and cultural destination”.
The resort spans a 4km stretch of coastline and can accommodate up to 20,000 visitors according to state media.
It features an extensive array of amenities designed to rival international beach destinations. In fact, in 2017, Kim sent a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Spain’s Benidorm resort, where the team toured theme parks, high-rise hotels and marina facilities.
As reported by the BBC, a North Korean brochure identifies 43 hotels along the beachfront, complemented by guest houses situated on an artificial lake and camping sites for different types of visitors.
The centrepiece aquatic park boasts towering yellow water slides set back from the beach, whilst an entertainment quarter houses a theatre, cinema, recreation and fitness centres. Swimming pools, restaurants and shopping centres complete the holiday offering.
Russian tourists can now book week-long packages with Vostok Intur, a Vladivostok-based travel agency, which is promoting one in July and two in August – priced at around US$1,840.
According to its website, the first tour was scheduled to begin on July 7 and will last eight days. Travellers will fly from Pyongyang to Wonsan, spend four nights at the resort, and visit the nearby Masikryong Ski Resort (CNN).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, tourism experts remain sceptical about the resort’s broader appeal. Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours tells the BBC the resort is “unlikely to be a major draw for most Western tourists,” noting that traditional attractions like Pyongyang and the DMZ “will continue to be the main highlights for international visitors.”
Elliott Davies of Uri Tours offered a different perspective, telling the BBC that North Korea holds “niche appeal” for unconventional travellers: “It’s intriguing to experience something as familiar as a beach resort that’s been shaped within the unique cultural context of North Korea.”
State media KCNA described the development as a “great, auspicious event of the whole country” and a “prelude to the new era” in tourism, though the resort was originally scheduled to open in October 2019 before facing construction delays.