Blooming Sakura trees in a Busan public park. Wanaanaw23 / Shutterstock.comDigital travel platform Agoda and Busan Metropolitan City have marked the first anniversary of their strategic partnership. The collaboration has helped increase international tourism to Busan, South Korea's second-largest city. It also supports South Korea's national strategy to attract 30 million foreign visitors annually by 2029. Busan welcomed approximately 3.43 million international visitors by August 2026.
The partners are highlighting their achievements at the 2nd Global City Tourism Summit, which runs from 26 to 28 October. Jay Lee, senior director for North Asia at Agoda, is delivering a keynote address. Busan Metropolitan City and other tourism bodies are organising the summit, which focuses on sustainable urban tourism development.
Agoda became Busan's technology and data partner through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2025. The partnership has since delivered growth in travel interest. From April to August 2026, Agoda recorded a 77% increase in searches for Busan. Of those travellers, 40% were visiting South Korea for the first time. Another 28% had visited South Korea before but were discovering Busan for the first time. Taiwan, Japan and China were the top source markets.
Jay Lee said, "A year into this partnership, we're seeing more travellers discover Busan, a growing share of them visiting for the first time."
Busan Mayor Jeon Jaesoo outlined the city's ambition to become Asia's leading marine and culture city. He emphasised sustainable, value-driven tourism growth.
The partnership has also made Busan the first-ever city partner in Agoda's Flagship programme. The initiative combines Agoda's global reach with local tourism assets and could provide a blueprint for future city partnerships.
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