Busan Bustles with BTS Concert: 110,000 Gather in Two Days, Tourism Booms

Busan Benefits from BTS Concert Boom
Souvenir Shop Sales Surge by 136%

It has been estimated that the BTS concert in Busan drew a total of 110,000 attendees over two days. When including fans who visited Busan to enjoy the concert atmosphere despite not securing tickets, the actual number of visitors is expected to be even higher.

Tourists Opened Their Wallets for the BTS Concert in Busan

BTS member V is performing at the 'BTS World Tour Arirang in Busan' concert held on the afternoon of the 13th at the Asiad Main Stadium in Yeonje-gu, Busan. Photo by Big Hit Music · Yonhap News

On June 18, Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Tourism Organization announced that they had successfully concluded the “City-Wide Festival Project,” which was launched in conjunction with the “BTS World Tour Arirang IN Busan” concerts held at Asiad Main Stadium on June 12 and 13. The city reported that no major safety incidents occurred during the concert period, thanks to close collaboration with relevant agencies. A total of 4,790 people were mobilized on-site, including staff from the organizers, Busan City, police, fire department, and the transportation corporation.

Tourist attractions set up throughout Busan also attracted considerable attention from visitors. 100,000 people gathered at the Haeundae Gunam-ro Love Song Lounge, around 50,000 visited Port Village Busan at Busan Port Pier 1, and 54,000 attended the drone lighting show at Gwangalli Beach.

The BTS concert also provided a major boost to the local economy. The daily average revenue of souvenir shops in the areas around Busan Station, Gwangalli, and Haeundae reached approximately 8.54 million won, an increase of 136% compared to the same period last year, and on June 14, the day after the concert, sales peaked at around 14.1 million won.

Payments at Traditional Markets Nearly Doubled

A massive wave of BTS fandom (ARMY) gathered to watch the BTS concert held on the 13th at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium. Busan Metropolitan Police Agency·Yonhap News Agency

The concert's economic impact was also confirmed in credit card company analyses. Based on BC Card’s sales data for affiliated stores in Busan (according to payment approvals), analysis of the spending data of a total of about 54,700 foreign tourists during the concert week showed an increase in both the total payment amount and the number of transactions by foreign tourists in Busan.

During the concert week (June 7–13), the total payment amount increased by 5.7% compared to the previous week (May 31–June 6) and by 73.3% compared to the same period last year (June 8–14, 2025). The number of transactions also increased by 38% compared to the previous week and by 97.3% compared to the same period last year.

In particular, spending at traditional markets showed a marked increase. Payment amounts by foreign visitors at Busan’s traditional markets nearly doubled, rising by 99.8% compared to the previous week, while the number of transactions increased by 16.1%. In contrast, payment amounts at department stores and supermarkets rose by only 3.1%, and the number of transactions actually decreased by 4.2%.

Meanwhile, after the announcement of the BTS concert in Busan, controversies arose in the local accommodation industry, with reports of room rates increasing more than tenfold, or existing reservations being unilaterally canceled and the rooms being resold at higher prices. According to the Korea Tourism Organization's "Korea Tourism Data Lab," among the complaints regarding tourism inconvenience filed in Busan last month, those related to “general accommodations” were the most frequent, with 133 cases. The main issues were unilateral reservation cancellations and excessive penalty charges.

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