More foreign visitors are flying straight to Busan, bypassing Seoul

More foreign travelers are heading straight to Busan without passing through Seoul, redrawing what used to be a Seoul-centric tourism map (Seoul Economic Daily, September 4, 2026). Busan welcomed 2.92 million foreign visitors in January-July, up 46.1% year on year, with direct international flights into Gimhae International Airport underpinning the shift.

This changes how you can design a trip. If Busan, the south coast or Jeolla is your destination, search Gimhae direct flights before Incheon - you can skip the Seoul transfer leg entirely (a 4-5 hour round trip by KTX or a domestic flight). Want both Seoul and Busan? An open-jaw ticket - into Busan, out of Seoul, or the reverse - means never covering the same ground twice. The practical conclusion behind the statistics: a Korea trip no longer has to start in Seoul.