Fact box summary:

Title: etours.co.uk and Going Gardens present 

The International Garden Exposition Suncheon Bay Korea 2013 – ECOGEO* 

Theme: Garden of the Earth

Dates: April 20, 2013 – Oct.20, 2013

London, Feb.5, 2013: With departures from London Heathrow any day between April 20 and October 14, 2013, Going Gardens, a garden tourism consultancy, and the South East Asia travel specialist agency, etours, are offering an exclusive 8 day package to South Korea that will take in the Garden of Morning Calm, the DMZ nature reserve, other cultural highlights and the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013. 

The Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013 will be the first AIPH** sanctioned horticultural exhibition held in South Korea.  The expo will create a model for low carbon green growth and a plan for ways man can coexist harmoniously with nature while preserving and protecting it.

The setting for the expo is Suncheon Bay, registered with the RAMSAR Convention, and is one of the most ecologically important wetlands in the world. The site will cover 152 hectares and will include themed areas:

·         The World Garden will offer the opportunity to experience the unique gardening cultures of 10 countries : China, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Pakistan, the UK and the USA;

·         The Themed Garden will feature 70 artists’ impressions expressed through gardens, which will include a Fantasy Garden, a Children’s Play Garden, a Maze and a Rock Garden;

·         The Hanbang Medicinal Herb Centre will give visitors a hands-on experience of the power of plants that can be used to heal various ailments of modern living;

·         The Arboretum, encompassing the Korean Garden, the Garden Tree Experience Centre and the Rhododendron Centre, will provide information as well as show-case horticultural systems  and  research that is being done on plant development and breeding;

·         The International Wetlands Centre, which from the road, resembles a grassy hill, will focus on ‘living ecology’, telling the story through eco-tours and a green Theatre

·         Suncheon Bay Lake, designed by world renowned architect and garden designer, Charles Jencks, will provide a focal point for the expo.

Connecting the Expo Site and Suncheon Bay, the first Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in South Korea, will convey up to 6 people in driverless environmentally-friendly podcars. Spanning the Dong Cheon River, the Dream Bridge, made of recycled containers, displays 160,000 works of ‘dream’ art from children around the world.

Notes:

*Environment/Earth – Mascots Kkuru and Kkumi are friends of children who protect nature. They are humanized versions of hooded cranes which represent Suncheon Bay. Their names come from the chirping sound of the cranes

* *Almost two hundred years ago, societies such as the RHS, started holding horticultural shows.

What started as short term show in halls and exhibition grounds, soon extended to open air shows lasting up to half a year. Set up in 1948, the AIPH (International Association of Horticultural Producers) coordinates and recognizes international horticultural exhibitions worldwide.

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For further information & bookings please contact:        
Etours.co.uk

Tel: 0844 472 3166

Mr. Ramy Salameh

Tel: 020 7321 2535

Email: london@gokorea.co.uk