President Park Seonghyuk: "Linking Air Travel, Accommodation, and K-Content to Extend Regional Stays" (Comprehensive)

One in Five Foreign Tourists Enter Korea via Regional Airports
Cheongju Airport Arrivals Up 109%
Korea Tourism Organization Presents Data-driven Local Tourism Strategies
Designing Itineraries to Extend Stays in Regional Areas

"As new tourism touchpoints such as local airports, regions, and K-content are actually translating into real demand, it is crucial to interpret these shifts accurately using data and to find solutions that are effective at the field level."

Seonghyuk Park, President of the Korea Tourism Organization, stated this while analyzing the major trends in Korea's inbound tourism market for 2026 at the '2nd Nowadays, Korea Tourism Data Seminar' held on August 27 at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. From January to July of this year, the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea reached 12.8 million, a 21.3% increase compared to the same period last year. Both entries through local airports and foreign tourists' tourism expenditures have also risen.

Seonghyuk Park, President of the Korea Tourism Organization, explains the key points at the '2nd Nowadays, Korea Tourism Data Seminar' held on the 27th at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Korea Tourism Organization

This seminar was organized to analyze changes in the local tourism market and on-site response strategies based on data. Following the first event in May, the second seminar was attended by more than 500 participants, including officials from local governments nationwide, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and representatives from the tourism industry and academia. Due to the early closure of event registration, the Korea Tourism Organization expanded the event space significantly.

The most notable shift in the data released at the seminar was in the entry routes of foreign tourists. In the first half of this year, 20.7% of foreign visitors to Korea entered through regional airports such as Cheongju, Daegu, and Gimhae. In effect, one out of every five foreign tourists entered Korea through a regional airport rather than through Incheon or Gimpo.

In particular, the number of foreign arrivals at Cheongju Airport surged by 109.1% year-on-year. This is attributed to the increased supply of flights from low-cost carriers (LCCs) and a rise in tourists from Taiwan.

The drive to attract tourists from Taiwan was highlighted as a leading success model for revitalizing regional airports. As a result of the Korea Tourism Organization's Taipei office gradually expanding its marketing efforts from a Busan-centric approach to the broader southern region, the number of Taiwanese visitors entering through Gimhae Airport is projected to climb by 157.1% in 2025 compared to 2023.

Joint marketing among regions also yielded positive results. In conjunction with last year’s ‘Year of Southern Tourism’ initiative, the Korea Tourism Organization developed 360 travel products with seven southern local governments and attracted 70,000 tourists. This represents a shift from promoting a single local area or destination to a collaborative approach that links air routes and multiple local governments and broadens the movement range for foreign visitors.

The Korea Tourism Organization plans to extend this trend to other regional airports, such as Cheongju and Daegu. In April, it established a task force with participation from 29 internal departments. The organization is discovering tourism content focused on Cheongju and Daegu airports, working to attract new flight routes, and striving to improve the infrastructure connecting airports and tourist attractions. The aim is to translate the increase in local airport usage into extended stays and increased spending in the local regions.

Changes have also been observed in how foreign tourists structure their stays. Analysis of accommodation data by the Korea Tourism Organization revealed that the domestic accommodation market has steadily grown over the past three years, driven by foreign demand. While visits to tourist spots were previously the main factor determining where visitors would stay, performances or sports events have recently become "the reason for an extra night's stay," prompting travelers to remain in the region for an additional day.

Strategies to turn the popularity of K-content into actual regional visits were also discussed. In a special session featuring Studio Dragon, strategies were shared for converting interest in regions and locales featured in K-dramas into tourism demand. The idea is to design itineraries so that tourists entering through regional airports stay locally and then travel to other regions as they follow the content trail.

The Korea Tourism Organization selected "local tourism" as the theme for this seminar in recognition of these trends. As the movement patterns of foreign tourists diversify—from entry, to accommodation, to content consumption—analysis suggests that regional tourism policies need to move beyond destination-centered promotion and instead organically connect air travel, accommodation, and content offerings.

President Park stressed, "We will continue to collaborate with the industry and academia to generate high-quality data and create more opportunities to share insights from the field," adding, "We will do our utmost to fulfill our role as a tourism policy partner that delivers tangible benefits to local communities."

The second issue of the 'Nowadays, Korea Tourism Report', which includes detailed analysis, can be accessed at the Korea Tourism Datalab. The Korea Tourism Organization is set to hold the third seminar in November, which will focus on the rapidly expanding market for medical tourism along with the growth of the K-beauty and wellness industries.

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