BUSAN — Busan should move beyond night tourism in which visitors simply take in the city's illuminated skyline and go home, and instead build a "night-time economy," or NTE, in which people stay and spend after dark, a new report says. Rather than treating existing night attractions such as Gwangalli and Haeundae as stand-alone content, the report argues, the city should link transport, commercial districts, culture and safety into a single system and turn the Busan night itself into a new engine of growth.
According to a Busan Institute report titled "Measures to Revitalize Busan Night Tourism Through Night-Time Economy Policy Cases," released on the 12th, researchers analyzed night-time economy policies in London and other major cities and proposed a Busan model called "Busan, Doughnut Tourism," which seeks a balance among consumption, residents' quality of life and protection of the natural environment. Busan has abundant night tourism assets in areas including Gwangalli, Haeundae and Yeongdo, the report says, but operations currently center on viewing night scenery and holding individual events, leaving few links to move visitors between districts or keep them in the city longer. The night-time economy is defined not narrowly as the late-night entertainment industry but as an economic ecosystem covering activity between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day.
Other countries already treat the night as an economic sector in its own right. Britain groups a wide range of activity between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. — restaurants, shopping, culture and the arts, tourism, and even transport and health care — under the night-time economy. In 2022, consumer spending in Britain's night-time economy reached 136.5 billion pounds (about 244 trillion won), with about 2.08 million people employed during night-time hours. London developed the concept not as a policy of simply extending store hours but as an urban strategy combining culture, tourism, transport and safety.
The Busan Institute's proposed "Busan Time" concept follows the same direction. The key is not attracting more tourists but getting them to stay longer in Busan and spend more. Under the approach, night tourism assets and commercial areas would be classified by function, and major hubs would be connected by transport to create a single night-time circuit. Areas where residents' daily lives are intertwined with tourism, such as Gamcheon Culture Village and Huinnyeoul Culture Village, would have their residential character protected, while commercial centers would be differentiated to allow activity into the late hours, the report says.
Transport was singled out as a particularly important task, because visitors who reach a night attraction but cannot move on to the next one are unlikely to stay and spend. The researchers proposed that Busan, following London's night bus example, run a pilot "night bus" service connecting night tourism hubs and expand it after analyzing demand.
The report also laid out a strategy for tying the effort to local commerce. Night markets should be structured not as simple food events but as operations in which local merchants and residents take part together and revenue is returned to the community, it said, and the city should build a "night map" that brings together information on night events and transport across Busan in one place. The aim is to make it easy for visitors to find "where to go and what to do," naturally encouraging longer stays and more spending.
Night markets linked directly to local commerce are another key measure. Beyond selling food and goods, they would return part of their revenue to the community and adopt measures such as deposit schemes for reusable containers to ensure sustainability. The report also proposed a structure in which residents take part in safety management at night markets and receive support for the costs.
Still, "brighter and later" is not a cure-all. The researchers stressed that light pollution, noise, overtourism and carbon emissions arising from expanded night tourism must be managed as well. Because Busan sits next to the coast and natural ecosystems, they noted, the city must also consider the effect of excessive lighting on marine ecosystems. To that end, the report raised the idea of creating "Dark Sky Parks" in areas where the natural environment is relatively well preserved, such as Dadaepo and Gijang, and designating starlight protection zones and green night-view zones.
The researchers said the city needs a "night mayor" dedicated to the night-time economy to mediate conflicts among the administration, merchants and residents, along with an organization to manage night tourism projects comprehensively. Performance should also be judged not only by visitor numbers but by length of stay, spending, effects on the local economy, resident satisfaction and environmental impact, they proposed.
To fund the effort, the report proposed a "night-time economy fund," a working name. The central government, the Busan metropolitan government and a private-sector consultative body would jointly raise the money so that night tourism infrastructure and content can be sustained and the city can respond to crises.
Changing Busan's nights, in short, is not a matter of adding one more tourism attraction but of making the city function after dark. "Night tourism can only thrive when it is connected to every area, including urban infrastructure and services," the Busan Institute said. "This is the moment for a policy vision that goes beyond night tourism to a night-time economy, and further to a 24-hour city."
