Songdo International City has secured momentum for its transformation into a global wellness destination after Incheon City and Therme Group entered the execution phase of their joint project by signing a main business agreement.
According to Incheon City on the 3rd, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority and wellness resort company Therme Group signed the main business agreement for the "Therme Incheon Project" at Songdo G Tower.
Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, Therme Group Vice Chairman Stelian Iacob, and Therme Group Korea Chairman Kim In-sook attended the signing ceremony, reaffirming their commitment to developing Incheon into a world-class wellness tourism city.
The agreement marks a significant milestone as it signals the start of concrete implementation to build a world-class integrated wellness resort on Songdo's "Golden Harbor" site. If the large-scale facility combining maritime tourism, recreation, and global wellness trend content including well-being and longevity is realized, dramatic changes are expected not only in Songdo's tourism landscape but also in Incheon's overall city brand.
The signing is expected to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the development of Golden Harbor, a key hinterland of Incheon Port. The city plans to develop Golden Harbor into a world-renowned tourist destination in connection with the Therme resort.
"Therme Incheon" will be built facing the sea on the CS8 and CS9 lots on the western side of Golden Harbor. The facility will occupy approximately 100,000 square meters (99,041 square meters), comparable to Therme Bucharest, the largest in Europe.
Therme Group Korea plans to promptly complete the selection of financial investors (FI) and construction investors (CI), undergo permit procedures and design modifications in response to changing tourism environments, and begin construction in 2027. Completion and opening are expected in 2031.
Therme Group Korea, the project operator, plans to develop a concept unique to Songdo, Incheon—an international and maritime city—just as it has done with city-specific concepts in Germany and Romania. The plan is to create a "global well-being oasis" by combining a year-round warm domed structure, an eco-friendly tropical botanical garden concept, wellness spa and sauna, water park, and multipurpose cultural spaces.
Incheon City expects to reap substantial economic benefits from the Therme project. Tax revenues and economic effects totaling approximately 2.8 trillion won are anticipated from income tax, corporate tax, and value-added tax generated by resort operations.
Job creation effects are also significant. By 2037, more than 3,000 new jobs are expected to be created, including approximately 760 direct hires and about 2,300 indirect employees in service industries driven by tourist inflows.
This main agreement is a follow-up to the basic agreement signed by both parties on September 29 last year. Since then, Incheon City and Therme Group have maintained close communication for practical implementation of the project, and Therme Group successfully completed administrative and financial procedures to demonstrate the project's authenticity and execution capability before signing this main agreement.
To advance the project, Therme Group has invested more than 28 billion won in capital to establish the domestic corporation "Therme Incheon Project SPC" and completed foreign investment enterprise registration. Additionally, the group submitted a business guarantee insurance policy worth approximately 8.5 billion won to confirm project implementation, securing firm financial collateral for the project.
Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, "By attracting Therme, Europe's eco-friendly success model, and Superblue, which has led innovation in the media field, we will establish Incheon as a mecca for global wellness tourism."