Lee urges shift from Seoul-centric tourism as 80% of foreign visitors cluster in capital

President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a senior aides meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on the 12th. [Photo by the Cheong Wa Dae press photographers pool]

President Lee Jae-myung said on the 24th that South Korea must move beyond an imbalance in which 80% of foreign tourists concentrate in Seoul, calling for a major shift toward locally led, region-centered tourism.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting he chaired at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said that, boosted by the global boom in “K-culture,” the number of overseas visitors last year came close to 19 million, setting a new all-time high. He added that foreigner spending at duty-free shops and department stores surged during the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Lee said the trend should be used as a springboard for a qualitative leap in the tourism industry.

Pointing to the heavy concentration of visitors in the greater Seoul area, he urged officials to focus policy efforts on developing region-tailored tourism products and addressing long-standing inconveniences across transportation, lodging, shopping and payments. He also called for rooting out “anachronistic practices” such as price gouging and excessive street solicitation.

Lee asked for active cooperation and communication among the central and local governments, as well as the private and public sectors, to build what he called a “K-tourism powerhouse” created by the entire country.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Kang Sang Heon ksh@ajunews.com