Busan tourism appealing to ASEAN

The Busan Metropolitan Government set up an information center to promote its tourism during the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Busan, the host for the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, is winning the hearts and minds of people from the regional political and economic community as a tourist destination.

The two-day dialogue partnership wrapped up, Tuesday, after the two sides reached a slew of agreements. Today, the inaugural Mekong-Korea summit will be held, with five of the ASEAN member nations participating.

Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is the nation's second-largest city, but it has yet to live up to its billing, remaining a lesser-known holiday spot to foreigners, and the Busan Metropolitan Government took full advantage of the international conferences to promote its tourist assets, reaping some fruit.

One of them came from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who spoke highly of the city after making a visit to Gamcheon Culture Village, Sunday. Gamcheon had served as a slum for impoverished citizens stretching high up a hillside, but it has more recently been transformed into a cultural village as part of an urban rehabilitation project.

“Visiting Gamcheon Village ― Busan's Machu Picchu ― this afternoon. In the past, Gamcheon was a slum. It is located on a steep mountain slope,” Widodo tweeted in the Indonesian language. “The village is clean, organized, empowered. Gamcheon Culture Village is a busy tourist destination. It should be an inspiration.”

As part of its efforts to promote the port city, the local government set up an information center within BEXCO, the main venue of the summit, where visitors could get information on the city's tourist sites, participate in experience programs and buy souvenirs.

Busan City has also been running various tourist activities such as a night view tour and an old town tour to share the charms of the city.

“A large number of people are interested in the tour programs ― in particular, the night view tour,” a city government official said.

During the summits, the government and Busan City also set sights on wooing Muslims that account for 40 percent of the total ASEAN population, or 260 million as of 2017.

Near waiting rooms for delegations on the second floor of BEXCO is a Muslim prayer room that was spilt into two spaces separating men and women. In addition, they set up closed-door prayer rooms for ASEAN leaders near conference rooms.

Muslim reporters could use a prayer room on the first floor of BEXCO as well.

In addition, 10 percent of the food offered in the media center is halal at the request of Muslim reporters.

“Following the 2014 summit, we set up a prayer room for Muslims again,” a government official said.

Amid rising interest in Korean pop culture and medical tourism, Muslim tourists has been emerging as one of the fastest-growing travel segments in recent years, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

A total of 511,017 Muslim tourists visited the nation in the first half of this year, a 9.8 percent hike compared with a year ago. If this trend continues, the number of Muslim tourists is expected to top 1 million this year, the KTO estimates.

The number of Muslims visiting Korea has increased steadily from 870,000 in 2017 and 970,000 in 2018.