In March 2016, then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a mid- to long-term tourism policy titled "Tourism Vision to Support Tomorrow's Japan." He set an aggressive goal to attract 40 million foreign tourists, doubling the previous target of 20 million by 2020. Abe placed regional tourism promotion at the forefront. Taking the microphone himself, he stressed that "tourism is Japan's true growth strategy and a key pillar for revitalizing regional areas."
A decade later, where does Japanese tourism stand today? Japan attracted 42.68 million foreign tourists last year, more than double Korea's 18.94 million. Japan's tourism revenue reached 9.5 trillion yen (about 89.6 trillion won), making it the country's second-largest foreign currency earner after automobiles.
Above all, foreign tourists once concentrated in the capital of Tokyo have dispersed across the country, creating a nationwide trickle-down effect. According to Yanolja Research, the foreign tourist visit rate for Japan's Chiba Prefecture rose from 9% in 2011 to 37.5% in 2023. Over the same period, the foreign visit rate in Osaka surged from 25.2% to 39.6%, and Kyoto from 16.7% to 29.8%.
The infrastructure Japan focused on to revitalize regional tourism was airports. The approach involves offering incentives to tourists arriving through regional airports and strengthening transportation links to tourist sites. Travelers arriving at Saga Airport in Japan's Kyushu region, located between Fukuoka and Nagasaki where railways do not reach, can rent a car for just 1,000 yen (about 9,400 won) for the first 24 hours. Tokushima Airport in Shikoku introduced free airport bus passes and fixed-rate tourist taxis. The measures lowered transportation costs first so that foreigners arriving at the airport would travel to surrounding cities. As a result, through October last year, the five hub airports across the country including Tokyo and Osaka evenly accommodated 76.3% of arrivals, while the share of foreign arrivals through non-hub regional airports reached 23.7%. Revitalizing regional airports spread the warmth of tourism industry growth nationwide.
Korea has also set out to revitalize regional tourism using Japan's case as a reference. In April this year, the Korea Tourism Organization formed a "Regional Airport International Tourism Hub Task Force (TF)" and selected Cheongju Airport and Daegu Airport as leading models. The focus was on developing regional airports not merely as transportation hubs but as "new gateways for Korean tourism" through which foreign tourists enter regions directly. In the long term, the move aims to disperse arrival demand concentrated at Incheon Airport and prepare for the era of 30 million foreign tourists in 2028.
Currently, two out of three foreigners visiting Korea set foot first at Incheon Airport. Last year, 65.1% of foreign arrivals concentrated at Incheon Airport. As the entry gateway narrows to a single point, tourists' movements struggle to venture beyond Seoul and the capital region. Their first accommodation, dining, and shopping also begin in the capital region. This is why regional tourism fails to grow alongside the increase in foreigners visiting Korea. Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young also pointed out at a May press briefing marking the first anniversary of the People's Sovereignty Government's launch: "The important core is the regions." He noted that "with more than 80% of foreign tourists concentrated in the capital region, travel to Korea is perceived as expensive and inconvenient travel." He pointed out that under the current capital-region-concentrated structure, overtourism problems could arise as the number of tourists increases.
This is why the Tourism Organization designated Cheongju and Daegu airports as leading models for international tourism hubs. The plan is to resolve on the ground the tasks of expanding entry gateways through regional airports and developing tourism hubs for visits to Korea, which the government presented at this year's National Tourism Strategy Meeting.
First, the Tourism Organization judged that for regional airports to serve as entry gateways, tourism products actually arriving at Cheongju and Daegu airports must be revitalized. To this end, it introduced a "regional attraction focus branch system," designating a responsible overseas branch for each regional airport. When transportation, accommodation, restaurant, and shopping information is bundled and delivered domestically, local travel agencies and online travel agencies (OTAs) build products based on it. For the necessary flights, a system was created that can coordinate not only local governments, airport corporations, and airlines but also military authorities.
Domestically, local governments and the tourism industry design itineraries for where foreigners will stay, what they will eat, and which cities they will travel to after landing at the airport. It is a structure in which route attraction, travel product design, and the establishment of connecting transportation and accommodation infrastructure proceed simultaneously around regional airports. Park Sung-hyuk, president of the Korea Tourism Organization, explained: "Regional airports are no longer auxiliary gateways but strategic bases of Korean tourism that connect foreign visitors directly to regions." He added, "Through the regional attraction focus branch system that unites overseas branches, regions, airlines, and the travel industry, the Tourism Organization is genuinely creating demand for regional-airport-based travel to Korea."
The regional specialized content discovered by the Tourism Organization and local governments in this process already numbers 333, with 35 regional and super-wide-area tourism courses. Tourists arriving at Cheongju Airport can enjoy an itinerary of buying bread at Sungsimdang in Daejeon to ease their hunger, enjoying the Boryeong Mud Festival, and relaxing from travel fatigue at the Taean Marine Healing Center. Those arriving at Daegu Airport travel through Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon and the Jinju Lantern Festival to a course at Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan.
Results are showing up in figures. From January to May this year, cumulative foreign arrivals at Cheongju and Daegu airports increased 42.7% compared to the same period last year. Foreign arrivals at Cheongju Airport reached 50,842, up 114%, while Daegu Airport was tallied at 46,146. The wide-area circular buses and demand-responsive buses connected to Cheongju Airport exceeded 7,000 users in the first half of this year alone. New air routes are also opening. As of the first half, charter flights scheduled for Cheongju and Daegu airports through year-end numbered 356, more than double the original target. The Tourism Organization is developing charter flights and travel products together across 11 regions including Kunming and Lanzhou in China and Matsumoto in Japan.
The Tourism Organization plans to expand the model refined in Cheongju and Daegu to other regional airports starting next year. The judgment is that achieving 30 million foreign tourists by 2028 requires supporting regional tourism infrastructure capable of accommodating them. Park said, "Based on the results confirmed in Cheongju and Daegu, we will advance attraction models tailored to each airport's characteristics and market demand." He added, "We will push the regional airport hub strategy with speed so that regional tourism consumption can spread nationwide."
