Thursday 22 November 2012

Weird but compelling

Every famous place in the world has their unique and peculiar story which related to the place, native people, legend or history. The story doesn’t need to be exciting or be happy. Sometimes it can be a horror or a sad story. It is usually handed down by word of mouth. Apart from the story is whether absorbing or not, people are always interested in the story, and they want to see and experience the story by themselves.


In "A hijacker holiday in Washington" we are told that D.B. Cooper who hijacked Boeing 727 aircraft and 37 passengers in November 24, 1971 and asked FBI for ransom, $200,000 and 4 parachutes before jumping with a parachute and landing near the town Ariel, Washington in the USA. Although FBI can’t even find him so far and D.B. Cooper’s crime file is still investigating ("D.B. Cooper", 2012), Ariel people open D.B. Cooper holiday and enjoy that day with many visitors every year in Washington.

The story attracts someone’s interest. In fact, I didn’t know who D.B. Cooper is, but I often hear his name in the Hollywood movies. Lately, I’ve heard his name in the ‘Prison break’ which was a television serial drama made in the USA. It was not only a well-made drama but also a sensational hit all over the world several years ago. In drama, Jack Scofield, title role, was caught and was imprisoned in jail. Actually, he committed a crime on purpose in order to save his brother who was falsely accused by mysterious group. When Jack needs money before breaking prison with his brother, he said “if we find D.B. Cooper’s money, we could escape and hide safely without worrying”.

The story makes people curious. As soon as I heard his name, I searched on the Internet who D.B. Cooper is. When I found his story, I was shocked by the story which was really exciting and unbelievable. His story was overwhelmed my whole interest for a while. After that, I imagined going to Washington and finding out D.B. Cooper’s money. I knew that my fancy was an absurd and an unrealistic plan, but the matter was that I was mesmerized by the story. Perhaps D.B. Cooper’s story captivated everyone who was interested in fascinating story and mysterious places.

The story invites people to the place. Like D.B cooper's story, my birthplace in Korea has a strange story. “The Jeju Mysterious Road, also known as Dokkaebi Road, Dokkaebi means Korean hobgoblin, lies on a hill at the foot of a mountain, and connects two major highways on Jejudo Island. It has earned its name, as objects and liquid appear to roll and flow up the hill instead of down, when, in fact, such image of gravity defiance is an optical illusion rendered by the seemingly high surroundings” ("Mysterious Road", 2012). Before it was popularized, only some knww that story, whilst after broadcasting that story via major TV channels, a lot of visitors and foreigners have visited and experienced supernatural phenomenon.

The story is priceless. Although many countries in the world want to improve their economy, developing it is not easy but difficult, for it needs a lot of budget, efforts and well-educated human resources. However, creating stories is much easier than making products or making buildings. It does’t need oil, factories, a lot of budget and people who have Ph. D. It simply needs ideas. Despite small and tiny ideas, it could probably make a large profit on tourist industry. It wouldn’t be a difficult, if we change our thoughts.

All we have to do is to make people want to know more and curious about the story. Then, they would move voluntarily. Could the story be the answer to improve tourism?

References

D.B. Cooper. (2012, November 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03.00, November 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

Lindsey G. (2012. November 21). A hijacker holiday in Washington. BBC travel. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20121120-a-hijacker-holiday-in-washington


Mysterious Road. (Dokkaebi Road). (2012).Korea Tourism Organization, Destinations. JeJudo, Jejusi Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1373714 

8 comments:

  1. I agree a story is important, but a story without any material support is just attraction. One of business base on stories is Disney Land. Do they have only stories? They have built and produced fantastic things related with stories, and the synergy between these things and stories brings economic merits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katie, I agree with you. Actually both of them are important and they shiuld exist together. Without material, the story is can be the half. As you pointed out, story should need a better half.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, You are the first commentor. You will be given sweet but not today becauseI am on my way to AUA. I am in the subway.

      Delete
    3. Do all commenters get a sweet? For each comment left?

      Delete
    4. Good morning Peter, I am sorry, the first commenter can only get a sweet. But don't worry, I've still remembered that you were the first commenter of an article what I wrote last week. So I will bring some sweet for you and Katie on Monday. Have a good day.

      Delete
    5. Thank you Jae.
      It's a thoughtful extra incentive program.

      Delete
  2. As a film student, I appreciate Korea government for their great encouragement on entertainment industry. With government support,great improvement on production technique is clearly be seen in Korean film during this decade. I think they did a good job on using entertainment media as a tool to promote their culture and tourism.

    ps. At first I hesitated to comment because I feel a little bit sad for not gonna get sweet. lol


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  3. Your story is interesting to me, because of the Prison Break. I was enthusiastic the series also, but I missed the part about D.B.Cooper. Sometimes the places related a book or movies I feel like to visit. I think attractive stories are enough to appeal to people.

    ReplyDelete

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