'Iksan Odyssey' Reaches 20 Million Views,,,,,,,,, Word Spreads as "This Is a Real Restaurant"

The YouTube content 'Wind Direction' has unexpectedly turned Iksan, Jeonbuk into a hot topic. The three-part series is a travel variety show where Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Sung-min, Ji Seok-jin, and Yang Se-chan rely solely on paper maps without mobile apps or navigation to randomly select destinations. The destination for this trip was Iksan, and instead of highways, the cast spontaneously drove along national and provincial roads, passing through Asan, Nonsan, and Boryeong to reach Iksan. This process became a hot topic, earning the online nickname 'Iksan Odyssey,' and the cumulative views have reached 20 million. The popularity of the content reportedly led to actual visits, and right after its release, for three days, Iksan visitors increased more than threefold compared to the previous week, so Iksan City immediately used social media to introduce not only the locations featured in 'Punghwanjung' but also unintroduced tourist spots, restaurants, and transportation options, and Mayor Choi Jeong-ho released a video expressing his gratitude. It wasn't just the local government that took action; as Iksan finally gained attention, local residents also became the subject of discussion, and online, posts summarized from locals to recommended restaurants, cafes, hidden shops, and attractions. This has led to official tourism information now being combined with information about residents' living areas. In this way, when a certain area becomes a topic of conversation due to certain content, residents add local information to broaden their interest, and this is a new word-of-mouth method that expands the focus from a single location to the entire city's visits and consumption. When Gwangju's rice cake shop Changeok-tteok became a hot topic, local residents online said, 'While you're getting the water, I recommend it, ' and local residents introduced restaurants and spaces. Posts introducing these places were posted, and when Gyeongju and Geoje gained attention thanks to the girl group Recennes, information about restaurants, cafes, shops, and attractions quickly spread. The commonality is that the content that initially created the topic and the follow-up information are different entities: when external content sparks interest, residents reveal information they already know, expanding the scope of the topic.