The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Air Busan are joining forces to expand foreign tourist arrivals through Gimhae International Airport. The move aims to ease the concentration of foreign arrivals at Seoul-area airports and develop Gimhae Airport into a gateway for tourism in the Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang Province (Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam) region.
The KTO said Wednesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Busan on Tuesday to "boost foreign visitor attraction through Gimhae International Airport." Air Busan, a hub carrier in Korea's southeastern region, operates about 30 percent of all routes at Gimhae Airport.
The two sides will jointly work to secure demand for new routes at Gimhae Airport, promote mega-regional tour packages covering Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, and run linked promotions with global online travel agencies (OTAs). The approach combines flights with regional tour products so that foreign visitors arriving via Gimhae can travel not only to Busan but also to Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province.
The KTO plans to work with its overseas offices to promote a "K-Heritage" tour featuring UNESCO heritage sites across the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region, along with Busan-themed marine leisure products, in connection with Air Busan flights. It also plans to roll out global OTA campaigns that allow overseas consumers to access flights and regional tour products together.
From June through August, a hospitality booth will be operated at Gimhae Airport. Passengers on new routes will be eligible for prize events offering airline tickets and other rewards, and will receive welcome kits and regional tourism information.
"Through this agreement, aviation and tourism will work together to broaden incentives for regional tourism," said Park Jung-woong, head of the KTO's Domestic Tourism Division. "We will continue to expand the attraction of foreign visitors to the southeastern region with Gimhae International Airport at the center."
