Cafe Waterfall, the landmark attraction of Seodaemun-gu, has again drawn high satisfaction scores from both domestic and foreign visitors in the second quarter of this year, cementing its standing as one of Seoul's premier tourist destinations.
Seodaemun-gu, led by District Mayor Park Woon-ki, released Monday the results of its "2026 Q2 Cafe Waterfall Visitor Survey," which polled 683 visitors — 301 Koreans and 382 foreigners — who visited the Hongje Waterfall waterside terrace and the Cafe Waterfall area between April and June.
The district conducted the survey to analyze the characteristics and behavior of both domestic and foreign visitors to Cafe Waterfall, improve tailored visitor services, and identify areas for improvement in order to raise service quality and repeat-visit rates.
Overall satisfaction stood at 94.0 percent among Korean visitors and 98.2 percent among foreign visitors. Both figures maintained the high service confidence seen in the first quarter of this year — when Korean satisfaction was 95.2 percent and foreign satisfaction 96.8 percent — with foreign visitor satisfaction rising 1.4 percentage points.
A shift was also detected in how foreign visitors discovered the attraction. Among social media channels, Instagram topped the rankings at 41.6 percent, overtaking TikTok — the Q1 leader at 27.7 percent. The tourism circuit running from Myeong-dong and Seoul Station through Cafe Waterfall and on to Hongdae was again confirmed this quarter, reinforcing the site's reputation as an essential stop on Seoul's northwest tourism route.
Notable changes also emerged in visitor composition. Among Korean visitors, the share coming from other parts of Seoul and the greater metropolitan area expanded, with metropolitan-area residents (23.6 percent) surpassing Seodaemun-gu residents (23.3 percent) for the first time. Among foreign visitors, the Philippines and the United States remained strong, while France entered the top three at 5.8 percent, indicating growth in European as well as North American visitors.
Improvement requests revealed a gap between domestic and foreign visitors. Koreans ranked "restroom and amenity improvements" as their top priority at 27.9 percent, while foreigners kept "introduction of hands-on programs" first at 23.6 percent but also raised "insufficient foreign-language signage and information" as a new concern.
The district had already acted on first-quarter findings by extending restroom hours to 24 hours, installing barrier-free kiosks, and making other facility upgrades. To address the foreign visitors' concern about inadequate foreign-language information, the district also produced a new English-language promotional brochure for Cafe Waterfall and made it available on-site.
To meet demand for hands-on programs, the district also launched regular street performances under the Seoul Metropolitan Government's "Seoul Everywhere Live" program two to three times a week, holding a total of 22 performances over May and June.
The district plans follow-up measures based on the second-quarter results. It will install additional restroom ventilation and air-purification systems and shorten cleaning intervals during peak hours. New K-beverage lineups reflecting foreign visitor preferences, as well as season-specific signature menu items exclusive to Cafe Waterfall, are also in development. Starting Monday, the cafe banned single-use cups entirely and made reusable cups mandatory, strengthening its image as an eco-friendly destination. District Mayor Park said the moves reflect his commitment to incorporating visitor feedback directly into policy without delay.
"Scores of over 94 percent overall satisfaction and over 96 percent willingness to recommend to friends and family mean that Cafe Waterfall has grown beyond a simple attraction into a trusted, representative tourist destination for Seoul," Park said. "We will carefully incorporate every improvement request from our domestic and foreign visitors as we push toward yet another remarkable milestone."
Since opening in April 2023, Cafe Waterfall has drawn a steady stream of visitors from home and abroad. As of July, it has recorded cumulative visitors of about 4.61 million and cumulative revenue of 5.6 billion won ($3.95 million), establishing itself as a genuine cornerstone attraction for the district.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
