70% Of DDP Visitors... Opened Their Wallets In The Dongdaemun Commercial District

Seoul Design Foundation releases data analysis
Rising foot traffic and commercial sales in Dongdaemun
Survey shows 68.4% of citizens have visited DDP

The annual card sales of the "Dongdaemun Fashion Town Special Tourist Zone" increased from 1.3778 trillion won in 2019 to 1.4491 trillion won in 2024. Seven out of ten visitors to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) were found to have used the surrounding commercial district, and in particular, foreign visitors' spending in nearby commercial areas increased 6.5 times in just two years.

On February 8, the Seoul Design Foundation analyzed and released related data from the Seoul Open Data Plaza and the Korea Tourism Data Lab to examine the impact that DDP, which has been open for 11 years and has attracted 126 million visitors, has had on the Dongdaemun commercial district.

Seven out of ten visitors to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) used nearby businesses. The photo shows a view of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by The Asia Business Daily.

This material is a statistic that estimates total sales by combining BC Card, KB Kookmin Card, and Shinhan Card transaction data. The comparison is based on the annual estimated card sales total of the commercial district classified as the "Dongdaemun Fashion Town Special Tourist Zone."

Card sales in the Dongdaemun Fashion Town Special Tourist Zone increased by 71.3 billion won, from 1.3778 trillion won in 2019 to 1.4491 trillion won in 2024. The result was similar even when the scope was narrowed to the nearby commercial district of Gwanghui-dong. According to analysis by the Korea Tourism Data Lab, total Shinhan Card sales in the Gwanghui-dong area rose by 89.1 billion won, from 272.8 billion won in 2022 to 361.9 billion won in 2024. Of this, foreign visitors' spending jumped 6.5 times, from 14.9 billion won in 2022 to 97.6 billion won in 2024.

A survey of citizens showed that DDP is functioning not merely as a place for viewing, but as a complex visit experience that links staying, moving, and consuming. In a survey conducted last year by the Seoul Design Foundation of 500 Seoul citizens and 107 foreign nationals, 68.4% (342 people) of Seoul citizen respondents said they had visited DDP, and 45.2% said they had visited DDP more than twice.

Their main spending items in the surrounding commercial district were: use of food and beverage services (37.4%), exhibition and cultural consumption (16.9%), clothing and fashion consumption (15.34%), purchases at convenience stores and supermarkets (6.71%), and daily consumption such as cosmetics (5.08%).

In particular, 83.7% of respondents (566 people) answered that they "want to visit again" or "will revisit if given the opportunity," confirming that DDP is perceived not as a one-off destination but as a core cultural infrastructure of Seoul that encourages repeat visits.

Meanwhile, DDP is showing a surplus structure even among publicly operated cultural facilities. After exceeding 100% for the first time in 2023, its average financial self-sufficiency ratio has remained above 100% over the past three years. As of last year, K-culture-related content held at the DDP Art Hall accounted for about 15% of all programs, and the resulting venue rental income reached 19% of the total. Based on reservations for this year, K-culture content is expected to increase by 137.5% compared to the previous year.

Cha Kanghee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, said, "DDP is a future strategic infrastructure for Seoul where cooperative networks, technology, and international exchanges are accumulated," adding, "We will develop programs that link AI, international cooperation, and the surrounding commercial districts to strengthen a structure in which longer stays and broader consumption in the commercial area are promoted with DDP at the center."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.