Busan Sees 24% Rise in Foreign Visitors, Poised to Surpass 3 Million
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Busan has recorded a 24.2% year-on-year increase in foreign tourists (as of September), with visitor numbers likely to exceed 3 million this year. Growth milestones reached 1 million visitors by April, 2 million by July, and 2.67 million by September. Top source markets are Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), China, Japan, and the US. The city attributes the boom to heightened global attention from the 2030 World Expo bid, stronger marine and festival offerings, tailored tourism products, and the popular “Visit Busan Pass” (비짓부산패스) — a foreigner-only travel pass combining transport and attraction discounts that has sold over 600,000 units. New content such as K-culture events, a pig-bone soup (dwaeji-gukbap) in-flight concept for Taiwanese visitors, temple-hiking (“temple trekking”) tours, the “Star Sea Busan Night Festa,” expanded beach festivals, and marine healing programs helped boost longer stays and higher accommodation spending. Major events like the Busan Fireworks Festival and “Festival October” drew large crowds and increased foreign tourist spending significantly. City officials say Busan is becoming the southern tourism hub of Korea and will continue developing unique sea-city tourism products.
