To Bring Foreign Tourists to Regional Areas... Expand International Flights, Lower Transportation and Payment Barriers

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hold Third Tourism and Transportation Policy Consultation Meeting
Plan to Expand Slots at Regional Airports and Give Priority to Flights to Korea
Discuss Overseas Credit Card Payments for Public Transportation and Improvements to Rail and Bus Booking and Map Services
Plans to Be Incorporated into Joint Projects for 2027 Following a December Discussion at the National Assembly

The government will expand international flights so that foreign tourists can arrive at regional airports without passing through Incheon International Airport. After arriving in Korea, they will be able to pay public transportation fares with credit cards without buying separate transit cards, following improvements to the relevant systems. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are working together to lower transportation and mobility barriers that concentrate visitors to Korea in Seoul and the capital region.

Tourists and local residents walk along Myeongdong Street in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a tourism and transportation policy council meeting on the 2nd, where they discussed measures to expand international flights at regional airports and improve public transportation payment and access options to make it easier for foreign tourists to travel around the country. Yonhap News

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said they held the Third Tourism and Transportation Policy Consultation Meeting at the Government Complex Sejong on the afternoon of Nov. 2 to discuss ways to boost regional airports and improve transportation access for foreign tourists.

The main focus of the meeting was expanding international flight services at regional airports. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to attract more international flights by increasing available slots at regional airports and giving priority to flights to Korea. The aim is to diversify foreign tourists' routes into the country and expand the transportation infrastructure that connects them with regional tourism.

Improving inconveniences during domestic travel was also on the agenda. The two ministries discussed ways to promote an "open-loop" system that allows travelers to pay public transportation fares directly with credit or debit cards issued overseas. The system is intended to reduce the inconvenience of having to buy or top up a separate transit card.

They also reviewed ways to improve access to rail and bus services, taxi services, and map services. The ministries noted that expanding regional tourism would be difficult if visitors faced inconveniences when traveling to destinations outside major cities or using local transportation, even after arriving by air.

The meeting also discussed building tourism brands to encourage visitors to stay in regional areas. The plan is to link transportation network expansion with the development of regional tourism content and promote longer stays rather than one-off visits.

The Tourism and Transportation Policy Consultation Meeting is a joint working-level body launched by the two ministries in May this year. Around eight officials responsible for tourism and transportation policy take part, jointly reviewing challenges that arise from foreign tourists' arrival in Korea through their travel to regional destinations.

The two ministries also agreed to continue managing improvement measures identified at the Regional Tourism Promotion Cooperation Forums Linked to Regional Airports, held in Daegu in April, Busan in May, and Yangyang in September. In December, they plan to hold a comprehensive discussion at the National Assembly to gather input from experts and the public, and incorporate the outcomes into their joint project plan for 2027.

"Extending the achievements of a record-high number of visitors to Korea to regional areas is essential as we work toward an era of 30 million foreign visitors," said Kang Jeongwon, Director General for Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. "We will work to ensure that foreign tourists can travel without inconvenience throughout their journeys by closely integrating attractive tourism content and marketing with aviation and transportation infrastructure."

"We will increase international flights by expanding slots at regional airports and giving priority to flights to Korea, while improving rail, bus, and taxi services and payment systems so that travelers can conveniently reach regional destinations from the moment they arrive at an airport," said Park Jaesun, Director General for Transportation and Logistics at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

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