Travel
Busan’s marine tourism market surpasses 6 trillion won for the first time
haps Magazine Korea
July 30, 2024
(Busan)
The marine tourism market in Busan, often called the ‘Marine Capital,’ exceeded 6 trillion won for the first time last year, marking the steepest growth rate in the country and widening the gap with other regions.
A recent report by the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), titled ‘2023 Coastal Area Marine Tourism Market Consumption Scale,’ analyzed credit card big data from 461 coastal administrative districts over the past five years.
The report revealed that the national marine tourism market reached 40.943 trillion won last year, up 9.3% from 37.4441 trillion won in the previous year, and 36.8% higher than pre-COVID-19 levels in 2019.
A KMI official attributed this market expansion to increased public interest in seaside destinations, spurred by government policies promoting marine tourism and improvements in tourism infrastructure.
Busan emerged as the leader in Korea’s coastal marine tourism market, with its market size reaching 6.6709 trillion won last year.
This marked the first time a single region’s marine tourism market exceeded 6 trillion won.
Following Busan were Jeonnam (5.5484 trillion won), Gyeongnam (5.395 trillion won), Incheon (4.3433 trillion won), and Jeju (3.8563 trillion won).
Gyeongnam and Jeonnam had the highest local consumption rates at 62.1% and 50%, respectively, while Busan benefited significantly from foreign spending.
Despite the typical trend of slower growth rates in larger markets, Busan achieved the highest growth rate in the country.
According to Haeundae-gu officials, Haeundae Beach attracted 1.37 million visitors last month during its pre-opening period, a 7.8% increase from the previous year.