The city of Busan is teaming up with Naver to promote its leading restaurants, cafes and shopping destinations to foreign tourists. Through culinary tourism marketing tied to BTS's world tour concerts, the city aims to extend visitors' stays and boost spending, strengthening its brand as a "global culinary city."
Busan said Wednesday it will run a "BE LOCAL" campaign for foreign tourists through the 19th of next month in cooperation with Naver. The BE LOCAL campaign is a project that helps foreign tourists easily find hidden attractions and restaurants frequented by locals. Following Seoul last year, Busan was selected as the focus city this year.
The city plans to showcase about 300 restaurants, cafes and shopping spots in major commercial districts such as Haeundae, Seomyeon and Gijang through Naver Map's multilingual service, leveraging Busan's growing competitiveness as a culinary tourism destination. In particular, foreign tourists who struggled with reservations and payments due to language barriers can now handle everything at once through Naver Map, from checking recommended places to booking, payment and using discount coupons.
The core of the campaign is culinary tourism. Currently, 85 restaurants are participating, including those selected for the Michelin Guide and the "Taste of Busan" list, and the number will expand to about 200 by the time the campaign ends. With a large number of Korean cuisine, seafood and local restaurants representing Busan participating, the campaign is expected to broaden opportunities for foreign tourists to experience the city's cuisine.
The city is especially seeking synergy by linking the campaign with the BTS world tour "Arirang IN Busan" concert held in the city this month. The plan is to encourage domestic and foreign fans who visit the concert venue to naturally visit Busan's restaurants and tourist attractions, connecting this to revitalizing the local economy. To this end, the city will install outdoor advertising at major tourist hubs such as Busan Station, Haeundae, Gwangalli and Nampo-dong, and conduct digital promotion across the entire travel route from Incheon International Airport to KTX and arrival in Busan.
The city is fostering culinary tourism as a core strategic industry, aiming to attract 5 million foreign tourists. This campaign is also part of efforts to enhance the global competitiveness of Busan's food culture through collaboration with private platforms.
Along with this, the city has produced the "2026 Busan Culinary Guidebook," which brings together the Michelin Guide, "Taste of Busan" and "Taxulin" lists. The guidebook was first unveiled at the Busan Station Welcome Center, and a digital version can also be downloaded from "Visit Busan," the official Busan tourism platform. An English version is currently available, while Chinese and Japanese versions will be additionally produced and distributed in earnest from the second half of the year.
Na Yoon-bin, director of the city's Tourism and MICE Bureau, said, "Busan is a culinary city competitive with any city in the world, from Michelin-selected restaurants to long-standing local eateries." He added, "I hope this campaign will serve as an opportunity to imprint Busan as a 'travel destination to come and eat.'"
