Korea serves up regional street food festivals for Taiwanese visitors
Summary
The Korea Tourism Organization is working with Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province to promote regional street food festivals to international visitors. The initiative targets travelers arriving through southeastern airports and initially focuses on Taiwan, with 145 Taiwanese visitors scheduled to attend the Daegu Tteokbokki Festival and Gimcheon Kimbap Festival on Oct. 23 and 24. Officials are also inviting influencers to cover the festivals and the Gumi Ramyeon Festival in November. The campaign aims to spread tourism beyond the capital region through travel products built around local food.
Key Facts
- The KTO’s Taipei office partnered with local travel agencies in September to launch specialized itinerary packages for Taiwanese visitors.
- The festivals feature bunsik, including tteokbokki, kimbap and ramyeon, foods the article says have gained international recognition through Korean dramas, media coverage and social media trends.
- The campaign plans to use influencer live feeds, food tastings and cultural coverage to promote the festivals on global platforms.
- Min Byung-sun, head of the KTO’s tourism industry division, said the initiative combines access through local airports with tourism offerings centered on street food festivals.
Visitors stand in a queue during the Daegu Tteokbokki Festival in Buk District, Daegu. Korea Times file
Korea’s regional street food celebrations are moving onto the international stage as tourism authorities lean into global cravings for authentic Korean cuisine.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said Wednesday that it is joining forces with local governments in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province to transform regional culinary gatherings into high-profile international travel attractions.
The joint initiative targets tourists arriving via regional gateways such as Daegu International Airport and Gimhae International Airport in Busan, offering direct access to the country’s southeastern region.
Focusing initially on Taiwan — a key source market with a strong affinity for Korean food culture — the tourism agency’s Taipei office partnered with local travel agencies in September to launch specialized itinerary packages. The effort has already drawn 145 Taiwanese visitors who will tour the Daegu Tteokbokki Festival and the Gimcheon Kimbap Festival on Oct. 23 and 24.
These events showcase "bunsik," or quick, affordable Korean comfort food, spanning spicy simmered rice cakes (tteokbokki), seaweed rice rolls (kimbap) and instant noodles (ramyeon). Long a staple of daily life and school-era nostalgia in Korea, bunsik has gained widespread international recognition through Korean dramas, media coverage and viral food trends on social platforms.
To further expand international outreach, tourism officials are inviting digital content creators and social media influencers to cover the upcoming festivals, as well as the Gumi Ramyeon Festival scheduled for November. Influencers will broadcast live feeds, food tastings and cultural experiences across their global platforms.
Tourism executives view the campaign as a strategic shift toward dispersing international visitors beyond the capital region while establishing scalable, thematic travel products rooted in regional identity.
"This initiative holds great significance as it enhances regional accessibility through local airports and commercializes local tourism assets around a unified theme of street food festivals," said Min Byung-sun, head of the tourism industry division at the KTO.
"We will continue to identify distinctive local resources, cultivate them into global tourism offerings, and drive sustained overseas demand for regional travel."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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