Busan Draws 2.92 Million Foreign Visitors in Jan-Jul, on Track to Hit 3 Million Two Months Early

The city of Busan announced on September 5 that 2,927,674 foreign visitors came to the city from January through July this year. That is up 46.1% from the same period last year (2,003,466), already reaching 73.2% of the city's annual target of 4 million - far outpacing the nationwide growth rate of 21.3% for foreign arrivals over the same period.

By nationality, Taiwan (605,000) and China (594,000) led the way, while visitors from the United States surged 78.4% to 259,675. Busan is expected to pass the 3 million mark about two months earlier than last year, when it first did so in October. It is another sign that inbound travel to Korea is spreading beyond Seoul to Busan.