Foreign tourism in Busan rebounds to pre-pandemic levels

Foreign tourists are returning to Busan again with some tourist destinations recovering to their pre-pandemic levels.

According to Songdo Maritime Cable Car on the 27th, foreign visitors last month accounted for 14% of all visitors, an increase of more than 9 times compared to the same period last year. This is higher than the 9-10% in 2019, before the pandemic.

The number of foreign visitors also more than doubled from February, almost recovering to the 2019 level. Foreign individual visitors accounted for about 85%, overwhelmingly more than groups.

The number of foreign visitors to Lotte World Adventure Busan has more than doubled over the past two months compared to the previous two months (January-February).

The number of foreign customers at Shinsegae Department Store’s Centum City Branch Spa Land increased 84 times from the same period last year to 3,000 for about four months this year.

Japanese customers increased by about 412 times from last year, similar to the pre-pandemic period.

The reasons for the sharp increase in foreign tourists to Busan’s tourist attractions include the resumption of air routes, the global K-culture boom, and the effect of raising awareness due to Busan’s active promotional activities to attract the 2030 World Expo to Busan.

The popularity of the ‘Visit Busan Pass’ for foreigners, which allows free use of paid tourist attractions and public transportation, also played a role.

It sold more than 6,000 copies in two months after it started selling in February. Among foreign tourists, word of mouth is spreading as a must-have item for Busan tourism.

It is also noteworthy that Busan tourism, which was limited to a few countries such as China and Japan, is expanding to various countries.

The number of foreign tourists who visited Busan in February was 67,800, a 345% increase from last year.

It also increased by 7% (4,467 people) in January.

By country, Japan (11,086), Taiwan (8,001), Vietnam (6,551), and the United States (5,880) are the most visitors.

China, which had been one of the countries that visited Busan the most along with Japan, only ranked 10th (1,936).

Travelers from 55 countries, 13,566 visitors, visited showing that travelers from other countries have taken an interest in the city.