Busan, long dubbed the city of "the old man and the sea" for its aging population and outflow of young residents, is seeing its profile change as foreign tourists arrive in force.
A total of 2,927,674 foreign visitors traveled to Busan in the first seven months of this year, the city government said on the 4th. That marks a 46.1% increase from 2,003,466 a year earlier and outpaces the national growth rate of 21.3% by 24.8 percentage points. The figure represents 73.2% of the city's original annual target of 4 million foreign tourists, reached in just seven months.
In July alone, 507,045 foreigners visited Busan, breaking the previous monthly record of 484,057 set in June.
Last year was the first time annual foreign arrivals in Busan topped 3 million. That threshold was crossed in October last year, but the city expects to reach it about two months earlier this year.
By country, Taiwan led with a cumulative 605,000 visitors. Analysts attribute the outsized numbers to the many direct flights linking Taiwan and Busan, as well as the short distance between them.
China followed with 594,000 and Japan with 340,000. The United States ranked fourth with 259,675 visitors, despite the absence of direct flights to Busan.
In the first half of this year, 1,014,341 foreigners entered the country through Gimhae International Airport, up 46.6% from 691,993 a year earlier and the most among regional airports. Of those arrivals, 50.2% stayed in Busan and 47.9% moved on to nearby areas such as Gyeongsangnam-do and Ulsan. Only 1.9% headed to the Seoul metropolitan area.
Card spending by foreigners in Busan totaled 742.3 billion won from January through July, second nationwide behind Seoul's 6.7486 trillion won. "We will not settle for quantitative growth, and will work to extend visitors' stays and spread tourism spending across the region," Mayor Jeon Jae-soo said.
As Busan emerges as a global tourist destination, a new term has been circulating among foreign visitors: "Busan fever." It describes a lingering longing for the city strong enough to make travelers want to return after their trip ends.
Jeon recently pledged to "innovate Busan tourism all at once," adding, "We will pour budget into everything from infrastructure to specific tourism content, focusing on spreading what people call 'Busan fever' further."
