"Travel to Korea with Your Pet Dog!" Busan City Launches First Travel Package for Visitors

City, Korea·Busan Tourism Organization Conduct Nationwide First 'Busan Travel with Daengdaengi' Monitor Tour

November 19-22 Monitor Tour Group Comprising Japanese Media and Influencers Tours Tourist Facilities

Busan City, together with the Korea Tourism Organization (President Kim Jang-sil) and Busan Tourism Organization (President Lee Jeong-sil), will conduct a monitor tour for the nation’s first pet-friendly travel product to Korea, ‘Busan Trip with Dogs,’ from November 19 to 22 as a special project for the Visit Korea Year.

Busan, It's Really Great! (Theme Travel Course).

This monitor tour consists of a group of 10 Japanese tourists, including Japanese journalists and influencers, traveling with five pet dogs to visit major tourist facilities in Busan.

The monitor tour group will arrive at Busan Port on the 19th via the Fukuoka-Busan ferry, enjoy a 2-night, 3-day trip in Busan, and depart on the 22nd.

Starting with a welcome event scheduled at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal on the 19th, they will stay at hotels that allow pets, visit pet-friendly vehicles, restaurants, and tourist attractions, creating beautiful memories in Busan together with their dogs.

They will also share feedback on the pet travel product based on their experience with Busan City and the organizations, which will be used to improve and launch more satisfying pet-friendly travel products in the future.

Pet-friendly travel (pet tours) is rapidly emerging as a new issue in the tourism industry, requiring a strategic approach to promote the domestic tourism industry.

In particular, the number of pet-owning households in Japan, a major target country for inbound tourism, reaches 10.7 million households, with about 16 million dogs and cats, exceeding the population under 15 years old (14.35 million). In Japan, ‘petcations’?vacations spent with pets?are increasing, and according to a private survey (Omoide no, 2021), 70% of dog owners responded that they take their dogs on trips. The largest age group of dog owners is people in their 20s (13.1%, average from 2018 to 2022), which coincides with the core age group (20s) of Japanese inbound tourists.

Compared to this demand, the procedures are rather complicated. When traveling to Korea with a pet dog from abroad, many give up due to the time and effort required for travel preparations such as implanting a microchip, rabies vaccination, serum testing, and obtaining a health certificate.

Hong Seong-gi, head of the Fukuoka branch of the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “This monitor travel product is significant as it is virtually the nation’s first inbound travel product overcoming various obstacles,” and added, “Through collaboration with professional travel agencies, we have systematically supported the various procedures and preparations needed for traveling to Korea, enabling Japanese tourists and their dogs to travel more comfortably.” He also said, “Pet-friendly products are high value-added products sold at 3 to 4 times the price of regular Korean travel products, and we plan to promote diversification and premiumization of the inbound market through strategic product development and marketing in the future.”

Busan City expects that the launch of this inbound travel product, coinciding with the recent launch of the ‘Busan, Eoksurojotda-gae!’ service on the Busan Tourism Portal ‘Visit Busan,’ will serve as an opportunity to actively promote Busan as a city ideal for traveling with pets to domestic and international tourists.

The ‘Busan, Eoksurojotda-gae!’ service, launched on the official Busan tourism website ‘Visit Busan’ on the 9th, offers ▲themed travel courses allowing dogs, ▲introductions to Busan’s Seven Beaches where dogs are allowed, ▲carefully selected valuable tourist information tailored to pet travelers, as well as a package of a series webtoon (‘Dahamtgae Chacha’) and games themed around dogs.

Park Geun-rok, Director of the Tourism MICE Bureau of Busan City, said, “We plan to actively promote the charm of the global tourism city Busan as a place where you can fully enjoy traveling with pets to overseas markets, and this monitor tour will be a starting point toward becoming a ‘pet-friendly tourism city Busan.’”