The South Korean government has chosen five cities as new tourism hubs in an effort to spread the tourism revenues beyond its capital city of Seoul. The cities of Busan, Gangneung, Jeonju, Mokpo and Andong will receive government subsidies to attract foreign visitors.
Tourism Minister Park Yang-woo said the government needs to develop new regional tourism hubs to attract more foreign tourists, since about 80% of foreign tourists visit only Seoul when they visit Korea. Busan has been chosen as an international tourism city while the four cities have been picked as regional tourism hubs. The government will inject a total of SKW 15.9 billion (USD 13.5 million) for the project this year.
In 2019, the number of international tourists to South Korea hit an all-time high of 17.5 million, surpassing the previous annual record of 17.24 million set in 2016.
