From Songdo to Kkangtong Market: Stray Kids' Busan journey draws 10 million views

Marketing built around K-pop stars has evolved beyond a channel for introducing regional attractions to global audiences — it is now becoming a tangible tourism consumption model. Tailored strategies that link artists' visited locations to travel products and enhance visitor convenience are expected to sharpen South Korea's competitiveness in attracting foreign tourists.

The Korea Tourism Organization announced Monday that a Busan travel video featuring Stray Kids, released in July as part of the "BIAS (Be In Artists' Scenes)" campaign developed jointly with JYP Entertainment, has surpassed 10 million cumulative views. BIAS takes its name from a term widely used among overseas K-pop fans to mean a favorite artist, and is designed to encourage fans to visit the places their favorite artists have been.

In the video, Stray Kids traveled to Busan — the hometown of member I.N. — visiting major attractions including Songdo Beach, Bupyeong Kkangtong Market and Gamcheon Culture Village. The members introduced local food and neighborhood spots through a series of missions, drawing strong reactions from fans abroad.

To convert that interest into actual visits and travel spending in South Korea, the Korea Tourism Organization has partnered with global online travel platform Klook to promote related products. Through a dedicated BIAS campaign storefront, the organization offers experience packages tied to the locations featured in the video, along with discounts, so that international fans can visit and enjoy Busan as Stray Kids experienced it.

Online and offline marketing targeting overseas K-pop fans is also underway. Visit Korea, the integrated tourism platform operated by the Korea Tourism Organization, introduces the regional attractions the artists visited in multiple languages, while promotion through social media channels popular with fan communities is ongoing. The organization has also aired video messages from Stray Kids encouraging fans to visit Busan on major digital billboards in city centers around the world, giving overseas fans a natural entry point into the campaign.

Campaign promotion extended to concert venues where core fans gather. In August, the Korea Tourism Organization ran a BIAS campaign booth at the Seoul stop of Stray Kids' world tour "RUN IT," introducing the Busan attractions featured in the campaign to international fans in attendance.

Baek Man-seong, head of the Korea Tourism Organization's hallyu content team, said staff were able to confirm at the concert venue that some foreign fans had actually traveled to Busan after watching the campaign video. "We will continue to expand collaboration with K-pop artists and promote the appeal of local travel in a friendly and engaging way, so that fans can discover regions across South Korea," he said.