Busan launches 2026 tourist survey covering key sites through November

The Busan city government said Monday it will conduct the "2026 Busan Visitor Tourism Survey," targeting domestic and foreign tourists visiting the city through November.

The survey aims to build a comprehensive picture of tourism in Busan — where visitors go, how they get around, what they spend money on and how satisfied they are with their trips — to serve as baseline data for future tourism policy.

Last year's survey found that "food (restaurant exploration)" was the top reason tourists chose Busan as a destination, cited by 68.8 percent of respondents. Acting on those findings, the city produced a "2026 Busan Gourmet Guide" for distribution at major tourist sites and rolled out a series of culinary tourism programs, including a gourmet selection event and a pork gukbap festival.

The survey will be carried out by ST Innovation Co., a professional research firm, through one-on-one interviews conducted by field researchers at major entry points — Gimhae International Airport and Busan Station — as well as key tourist attractions including Haeundae Beach, Gamcheon Culture Village, Jagalchi Market, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple and Taejongdae.

Respondents must be domestic or foreign tourists aged 18 or older who reside outside Busan. The survey covers five areas: travel characteristics (number of visits, length of stay, accommodation, transportation and travel companions), trip planning and information sources, places visited and tourist activities, spending (expenditures, payment methods and shopping), and travel evaluation (satisfaction, inconveniences and intention to revisit).

This year, the city expanded the sample size from 1,200 to 1,800 respondents each for domestic and foreign tourists — an increase of 600 per group — to improve accuracy and reliability. Group travelers will be asked to designate a single representative to respond, preventing duplicate answers. Survey locations were selected by weighing tourist volume, tourism type and tourism zone in preparation for a potential national statistics designation, with sites such as Haeundae Beach, Gamcheon Culture Village and Jagalchi Market included to strengthen the survey's representativeness.

The city plans to cross-analyze the results with tourism big data from mobile carriers and credit card companies to build a detailed picture of visitor behavior and spending patterns. The findings will be published on the city's website (www.busan.go.kr) and the public data portal (www.data.go.kr).

Mayor Jeon Jae-soo said the city would "carefully examine where tourists go, what they see and eat, and what inconveniences they encounter, so we can build on Busan's strengths as a tourist destination and address its shortcomings."