Songpa-gu wins grand prize among 255 administrative districts in the 2026 Korea Tourism City Competitiveness Assessment
AI sentiment analysis of 29,000-plus tourist attractions puts Songpa-gu at the top in both awareness and appeal
District claims No. 1 national ranking after earning top nod in Seoul tourism zone evaluation — a testament to its cultural and arts infrastructure
Songpa-gu has claimed the top spot in the national tourism city competitiveness index.
Songpa-gu announced that it ranked first overall among 255 administrative districts nationwide and received the grand prize at the 2026 Korea Tourism City Competitiveness Assessment, hosted by travel and tourism research firm Yanolja Research Co.
The assessment stands apart from conventional evaluations that rely on administrative data by measuring actual consumer responses — analyzing sentiment expressed by tourists online. Scores were calculated by examining emotional reactions across social channels such as YouTube and Instagram, drawing on big data from 29,336 tourist attractions across 255 administrative districts nationwide.
Songpa-gu ranked at the very top in both the awareness and reputation category — reflecting its profile as a tourist destination — and the appeal category, which measures visitors' emotional satisfaction. The result recognizes the district as South Korea's premier tourist city: one that goes beyond mere landmarks to deliver genuine inspiration and satisfaction to visitors.
The district's top ranking was built on the cultural and arts infrastructure developed around Seokchon Lake. District Mayor Seo Gang-seok has long held that a truly premium city is complete only when culture and art flow naturally through the daily lives of its residents. Guided by that philosophy, a series of venues have opened in succession to transform the lakeside into a cultural and arts destination — among them The Gallery Lake, a world-class district-run art museum; Hosugyogallery, a media exhibition space beneath the Jamsil Lake Bridge; and The Sphere, a cutting-edge media art installation that has become a new landmark of Songpa.
Seasonal festivals are another key driver of the district's tourism competitiveness. Songpa-gu has built a year-round tourism environment with the Lake Cherry Blossom Festival in spring, the Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival in autumn, and Luminarie and a New Year's countdown event in winter. According to the district's own big data drawn from SK Telecom network data, this year's Lake Cherry Blossom Festival drew about 9.01 million visitors — nearly matching Seoul's entire population of about 9.3 million.
The district's record on attracting foreign tourists is equally strong. The number of international visitors to Songpa grew from about 2.12 million in 2023 to about 2.98 million in 2025, an increase of roughly 900,000 over two years. The district has rolled out K-food cooking classes, familiarization tours, walking tours linking Pungnap Market and Bangimatkol, and nighttime cultural heritage commentary programs to let visitors experience the area's charms firsthand. Songpa-gu had earlier been named the top-rated tourism special zone in the 2025 Seoul Tourism Special Zone Assessment.
Building on this recognition, the district plans to accelerate efforts to enhance tourism content, expand stay-based tourism projects, and develop tourism policies linked to local economic revitalization.
"This award reflects the deep satisfaction and strong impression that Songpa-gu's outstanding tourism resources and differentiated cultural and arts policies have made on visitors," District Mayor Seo said. "We will continue to elevate the city's brand value and inject vitality into the local economy through tourism policies that are distinctly Songpa."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
