Worldwide vacationers wearing Hanbok take photographs in entrance of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, Jan. 1. Newsis
Past Seoul, Busan and Jeju, Korea’s regional cities are rising as the following sizzling spots for abroad guests, buoyed by a world shift towards slower, experience-driven journey that appears past marquee locations.
For years, most overseas guests to Korea have gravitated towards a well-known trio: the buying streets and royal palaces of Seoul, the seashores and nightlife of Busan and the volcanic landscapes of Jeju Island.
Now, with inbound tourism anticipated to succeed in document highs, that sample is starting to shift. What units this restoration other than earlier booms is not only the variety of guests, however how — and the place — they journey and spend.
Business tracker Yanolja Analysis initiatives that 20.36 million overseas vacationers will go to Korea this yr, up 8.7 p.c from a yr earlier and surpassing the pre-pandemic peak, with the determine presumably climbing to 21 million if geopolitical tensions redirect extra Chinese language vacationers from Japan to Korea.
Knowledge from journey platform Klook signifies that the variety of merchandise concentrating on overseas vacationers in provincial areas has doubled from a yr in the past, at the same time as a lot of these areas grapple with demographic decline and getting old populations. Packages in South Chungcheong Province surged 300 p.c, whereas journeys to North Jeolla and North Chungcheong Provinces, Daegu and the historic metropolis of Gyeongju grew between 50 and 114 p.c.
Search and reserving patterns mirror this shift. North Chungcheong noticed a 245 p.c soar in views for regional tourism merchandise, and Gyeongju skilled a 149 p.c enhance. Fashionable picks embody one-day journeys to Danyang, metropolis and theme park experiences in Gyeongju, observatory and amusement park excursions in Daegu and nature applications in South Chungcheong Province.
Somewhat than checking off gadgets from an inventory of well-known landmarks, extra guests are selecting compact itineraries that emphasize native character, corresponding to tasting regional meals, strolling round historic neighborhoods and becoming a member of hands-on life-style applications that match right into a single day.
Improved connectivity helps to show curiosity into bookings.
Passengers make their approach by way of Seoul Station in central Seoul to catch departing trains, Dec. 8, 2025. Newsis
The enlargement of KTX high-speed rail and specific bus networks has made it simpler to succeed in provincial hubs, widening the radius that short-stay guests can realistically cowl from a single gateway.
Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) is making an attempt to decrease the obstacles additional by bundling long-distance rail and native transport right into a single product for abroad guests by way of its new “KORAIL Move Plus,” launched final December, whereas providing expanded multilingual ticket machines and web sites that permit overseas bank card funds and easier reserving.
On the bottom, guides say the shift is tangible.
“There isn’t any query demand has grown,” stated Lee Do-yeon, a Busan-based journey information with greater than a decade of expertise, who now spends a lot of his time main small-group regional excursions. Though Seoul, Busan and Jeju stay main gateways, “individuals don’t simply wish to keep there anymore — they use these cities as entry factors and, as a result of info and translation are so accessible now, they’re now not afraid of language obstacles and really feel comfy exploring all types of locations.”
Hwangridan-gil in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, a stylish road lined with renovated hanok homes, cafes, boutiques and eating places, bustles with worldwide guests, Jan. 1. Yonhap
He stated the worldwide recognition of Korean tradition has “expanded from a single style to a broader curiosity about Korean tradition and areas,” with repeat guests more and more skipping acquainted sights, whereas AI-powered navigation, translation and suggestion companies have “damaged down language obstacles and made it simpler for guests to design their very own journeys and search out secondary cities.”
Whereas native governments and the tourism trade see the present second as a “golden time” to put regional manufacturers on the worldwide tourism map, consultants say the problem is whether or not native infrastructure and genuinely distinctive content material are in place to maintain the momentum and switch the shift into sturdy progress.
“Vacationers need experiences that really feel each distinctly Korean and on-trend, however many native tourism insurance policies lag behind,” Lee stated, including that guests now “desire strong, well-crafted content material over flashy facades, and the areas that ship it is going to win over overseas vacationers.”
“Standardized, hardware-focused tourism has reached its restrict,” Jang Su-chang, head of Yanolja Analysis, stated, mirroring Lee’s view and calling for a shift towards uncovering regional tales and tradition and reshaping them into immersive, genuine content material slightly than specializing in constructing new points of interest.
