Culture and Land Ministries Explore Strategies to Attract Foreign Tourists Using Gimhae Airport

Regional Airport-Linked Local Tourism Revitalization Forum Held at Busan City Hall

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are joining forces to develop regional airports as key hubs for attracting foreign tourists.

On May 29, the two ministries announced that they will hold the second "Regional Airport-Linked Local Tourism Revitalization Cooperation Forum" that afternoon at Busan City Hall, focusing on strategies to expand the reach of foreign tourists from Gimhae Airport into the surrounding regions. The first cooperation forum, held on April 21, centered on Daegu Airport.

This forum will be chaired by Kim Daehyun, the Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and attended by approximately 50 participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, local governments from Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, Korea Tourism Organization, Korea Airports Corporation, Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, airlines, and local travel industry stakeholders.

During the forum, Son Shinwook, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, will give a presentation on "Local Tourism-Airport Status and Policy Tasks." Following this, travel agencies specializing in inbound tourism based in the region will share challenges and improvement tasks they encountered—such as transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, and information systems—while developing and demonstrating connected tourism courses for foreign tourists in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam. Participating organizations plan to discuss the division of roles and solutions for these issues.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plan to expand the cooperation forum to other airports, including Cheongju Airport, thereby establishing a public-private cooperation system centered on regional airports and strengthening cross-governmental efforts to revitalize local tourism.

Lee Soyoung, Director of Aviation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "In the first quarter of this year, about 430,000 foreigners entered the country through Gimhae Airport, a 45.5% increase compared to the same period last year. We will continue to expand international routes focused on inbound tourism and enhance services for foreign visitors so that Gimhae Airport can serve as a key hub for regional tourism."

Kim Daehyun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "As Korea is breaking its all-time record for inbound tourism, we must not miss this golden opportunity for a major transformation in the tourism sector. We will innovate the infrastructure and services throughout the entire travel experience for foreign tourists centering on regional airports, and achieve tangible results through cooperation with relevant organizations."

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