▲Tourism ▲Accommodation and Food ▲Transportation ▲Safety and Medical Care ▲Environmental Maintenance
Sector-by-Sector Tourism Readiness Inspection... Announcement of Tourism-Specialized Content
Seeking Cooperation Measures for Tourism Revitalization with Tourism-Related Organizations
A project by Busan City to attract as many foreign tourists as the number of Busan citizens has been launched.
Last year, the number of foreign tourists visiting Busan was 2.93 million, and this year's goal is over 3 million. With Busan's current population at around 3.26 million, the city plans to welcome a number of foreign guests nearly equal to its citizens.
Busan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced that, with the full-fledged spring tourism season approaching, a "Spring Season Tourism Readiness Inspection Meeting" was held at 10:30 a.m. on the 19th in the City Hall video conference room, presided over by the mayor.
The city has set a goal of attracting more than 3 million foreign tourists this year. This meeting was an opportunity to comprehensively inspect the city's tourism readiness in order to increase visitor satisfaction and make Busan a city enjoyable for tourism in all seasons, especially as spring brings an influx of tourists from the beginning of the year.
Attendees included Mayor Park, Vice Mayor for Administration Lee Joonseung, Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Kim Kwanghoe, as well as representatives from districts and counties, public corporations, the police agency, and private organizations.
Busan Mayor Park Hyeongjun (center), Deputy Mayor Lee Junseung (left), and Deputy Mayor for Future Innovation Kim Gwanghoe are holding a meeting to inspect the tourism readiness for welcoming guests in spring.
The meeting focused on checking the progress of tourism readiness in various sectors, including ▲tourism ▲accommodation and food ▲transportation ▲safety and medical care ▲environmental maintenance. There was also discussion of various measures to promote Busan's tourism appeal and extend visitors' stays, such as district-specific tourism content and expanded tourism services for both domestic and international tourists.
In the tourism sector, efforts will be made to increase repeat visits through stay-type tourism packages linked to spring international events and festivals such as the Busan International Boat Show, Busan International Short Film Festival, and Busan International Performing Arts Festival. Additional plans include combining the Visit Busan Pass with group tourism products and offering practical benefits to tourists through partnerships with discount franchises like Olive Young.
Furthermore, the city will pursue the development of unique tourism content through various government-supported projects, such as fostering culture and tourism-oriented markets, creating food-specialty markets, and hosting experiential events.
In the accommodation and food sector, the city will strengthen support to ensure foreign tourists can visit Busan without inconvenience by distributing and updating tourism promotional materials at major accommodations, supplying foreign language menus and operating a dedicated menu platform for restaurants, and enhancing price transparency at accommodations and restaurants (including monitoring for overcharging and outdoor price displays).
In transportation, to improve the convenience of tourist movement, the city will conduct special safety inspections and promote the operation of city tour buses, and enhance public transportation foreign language guidance services (such as expanding electronic route maps and QR code-based English bus stop information). In addition, with the opening of the KTX Jungang Line and Donghae Line, the city will also reorganize the transfer system between rail, bus, and subway.
In the safety and medical sector, the city will establish a safe environment where tourists can stay with peace of mind by conducting joint inspections of major festivals and events, running public-private relay campaigns and emergency medical systems for food poisoning prevention, inspecting fire safety at accommodation and multi-use facilities, and patrolling major tourist sites and checking safety facilities (such as CCTV and emergency bells) to prevent crime.
In environmental maintenance, the city will organize unnecessary public facilities and outdoor advertising structures at major tourist sites, promote roadside greening projects, conduct daily inspections to strengthen hygiene and safety management of public restrooms, and focus on managing areas with sewer odors at major tourist attractions to create a clean urban environment.
Plans were also discussed to provide new experiences for tourists visiting Busan by developing region-specific content such as the drone light show at Gwangalli Beach, trekking courses on Geumjeongsan, temple tours, and ecological exploration of the Nakdonggang River.
Additionally, the meeting actively gathered opinions from tourism-related organizations such as the Busan Tourism Association and the Busan branch of the Korea Hotel Association to seek cooperation measures for revitalizing tourism in Busan.
Mayor Park Hyungjoon stated, "Despite the prolonged economic downturn, the number of foreign tourists visiting Busan last year reached 2.93 million, the highest since 2016, and Busan's city brand continues to rise, as evidenced by its selection as one of the world's top 100 travel destinations by major overseas travel platforms."
Mayor Park added, "This year, various international festivals and events are planned, and promotional strategies to attract tourists are more important than ever. I hope that from the planning stage, strategies will be developed in an open and inclusive manner in collaboration with other cities and the tourism industry."
He emphasized, "Through this pre-inspection of tourism readiness, we will address shortcomings and revitalize the local economy, meticulously working toward the goal of attracting more than 3 million foreign tourists in 2025."
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