Korea offers bus discounts to move foreign tourists beyond Seoul

A promotional poster outlines discounts and booking incentives on intercity and express bus tickets for foreign tourists visiting Korea. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

For the millions of foreign tourists who visit Korea each year, the boundaries of vacations are often defined by the limits of the capital's subway system. Venturing into the provinces has long meant confronting a fragmented, deeply analog intercity bus network whose digital reservation platforms remain largely inaccessible to holders of foreign passports and overseas credit cards.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Tourism Organization, announced a coordinated monthlong campaign on Monday to dismantle these transit barriers. Partnering with international travel booking platform Klook and fintech firm Hanpass, the government will subsidize tickets and provide digital perks from June 15 to July 14 to encourage independent travelers to explore the country's rural interior.

The initiative addresses a persistent bottleneck in Korea's tourism infrastructure. While the country fully integrated international credit card processing at bus terminals in July 2024, the government notes that awareness of English-language online booking channels remains critically low. According to data from the National Association of Passenger Bus Terminals, foreign ridership on intercity buses hit 382,000 in the first quarter of 2026 — a 32.2 percent increase from the same period last year — yet difficulties navigating the system from outside major hubs remains a common tourist complaint.

Under the new initiative, the government is leveraging private sector tech to streamline the process. The state tourism board will distribute a 5,000 won (about $3.60) immediate discount coupon for ticket bookings. Hanpass will layer an additional 4,000 won discount on top of that subsidy for its users, while Klook will offer complimentary travel eSIMs to inbound passengers who book express bus tickets through its portal to ease mobile connectivity on the road.

The push comes as Korea experiences a significant post-pandemic tourism boom, with inbound visitor tallies breaking historic records between January and April of this year.

"We will continue to communicate and cooperate closely with relevant agencies to create an environment where foreign tourists can travel across the country more conveniently," said Kang Jung-won, director-general of the ministry's Tourism Policy Bureau.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.