Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province—which successfully hosted last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit—is being actively promoted as a new Golden Route for Inbound Tourism following the Seoul metropolitan area, thanks to its rising global profile.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on Tuesday that they will implement comprehensive, multifaceted support measures to establish Gyeongju as a key hub for inbound tourism. The plan is to leverage the asset of having hosted the APEC Summit—a major event—to divert foreign tourists to regional areas.
In fact, Gyeongju has shown remarkable tourism results this year from both domestic and international visitors. According to the Korea Tourism Data Lab, the number of foreign tourists visiting Gyeongju from January to May this year reached approximately 569,000, an 18.3% increase compared to the same period last year, while their total spending also surged by 34.1% to 11.1 billion KRW (about 7.2 million USD).
During the same period, the number of domestic tourists also surpassed 20.97 million, recording a 7.1% growth rate, further solidifying Gyeongju’s status as a popular destination for both domestic and international tourists.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are developing and promoting tourism products that showcase Gyeongju’s appeal to ensure that the benefits of inbound tourism are distributed to and felt by local communities. For example, in April, they sold a Run-trip package tied to the Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Marathon, attracting approximately 540 tourists.
Efforts are also being made to attract foreign tourists through active collaboration with local international airports. Year-round promotions are being conducted for tourism packages connecting Gyeongju and its surrounding areas, targeting markets such as Taiwan and Japan—which operate direct flights from nearby Daegu Airport. Additionally, through Gimhae Airport, packages linking the Haman Nakhwa Fireworks Festival (July) and Gyeongju’s Bulguksa Temple are being offered to the Hong Kong market, with plans to expand unique travel experiences in the region.
Furthermore, in conjunction with the APEC legacy, the city is developing and promoting the Gyeongju Korea-China Summit Trail Package for the Chinese market. For the Japanese market, it is conducting online and offline promotional campaigns targeting Japanese travel agencies and consumers, centered on the Top 30 Small Towns in Korea content, which highlights the charm of regional cities across Korea.
In September, the ministry will host a familiarization tour (fam tour) for member travel agencies of Serandipians, a global association of luxury travel agencies, to encourage the development of high-end tourism products. In November, it plans to invite renowned international content creators (influencers) to promote the charms of Gyeongju and its surrounding areas through social media in their home countries.
Kang Jeong-won, Director General of the Tourism Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated that the successful hosting of the 2025 APEC Summit served as a decisive opportunity to showcase Gyeongju’s historical and cultural charm to the world, adding that it will spare no effort in providing multifaceted support to build on this momentum and develop Gyeongju into a new Golden Route for inbound tourism, following the Seoul metropolitan area.”
Nam Mi-kyung, Director of the Gyeongju City Culture and Tourism Bureau, remarked that since the 2025 APEC, it has seen a significant increase in foreign tourists not only at Gyeongju’s major tourist attractions but also in the city’s downtown commercial districts, and it’s clearly experiencing this rise in tourism demand. She continued that to meet this growing demand, it will foster high-value-added, extended-stay tourism content and strengthen the world-class tourism infrastructure to establish Gyeongju as a world-class tourist city.