Busan sets new record with 30,000 medical tourists

Tourists enjoy cherry blossoms in Suyeong District, Busan, March 28. Yonhap

Approximately 30,000 foreign patients visited Busan last year for medical treatment, the highest number since the southern port city launched its medical tourism initiative in 2009. This represents a significant recovery following the declines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.

The Busan metropolitan government said Monday that it became the most visited medical tourism destination outside of the Seoul metropolitan area for the first time last year, surpassing Jeju Island and Daegu. The number of visitors to Busan more than doubled from approximately 12,000 in 2023.

Japanese patients ranked first, accounting for 24.3 percent of all foreign medical tourists, followed by visitors from Taiwan, China and Russia. The island nation — just 49.5 kilometers from Busan at its closest point — topped the list for the second consecutive year.

Last year’s figure represents a 500 percent increase from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2022, the Ukraine war further decreased the number of Russian visitors to Busan, as direct flights between Russia and Busan were suspended.

The port city, about a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Russia’s Far East, has long been a favored medical tourism destination for Russians. From 2009 to 2021, Russia consistently ranked as the top country of origin for foreign medical tourists to Busan, according to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. China ranked first nationwide in medical tourism for the majority of that period.

"We've actively promoted medical tourism to Russia, with private agencies targeting the nearby Russian Far East, including Vladivostok. As demand grew, many businesses began offering tailored services for Russian clients," a Busan city official in charge of tourism told The Korea Times.

Logo of the most visited medical institution by foreign patients / Courtesy of the Busan metropolitan government

To attract Russian patients, Busan launched several initiatives, including expanding concierge services to Donghae Port — where many Russians started arriving after direct flights from Russia were halted due to the Ukraine war — in order to ease travel to the city.

As in other parts of Korea, dermatological treatments have been the main driver of growth in Busan’s medical tourism industry.

More than 50 percent of medical tourists in Busan sought dermatology and plastic surgery services, with dermatology seeing a 674 percent increase compared to 2023.

Seo-myeon, a bustling district in Busan, played a central role in this trend. The area is densely packed with dermatology and plastic surgery clinics.

"Like Apgujeong in Seoul, Seo-myeon in Busan serves as a symbolic hub for the city's plastic surgery and dermatology sectors," the Busan official said, adding that the city has been working to brand the district as its go-to destination for aesthetic medical tourism.

As a result, Busanjin District — home to Seo-myeon — accounted for the largest share of medical tourists by district, with 60.4 percent, marking a 330 percent increase from 2023.

The number of medical tourists from Taiwan was particularly striking, with about 7,200 visitors coming to Busan last year for treatment — a remarkable 1,840 percent increase from 2023. This surge seems to reflect a growing trend of combining travel with simple dermatological procedures at clinics.

Jeong Ran-soo, an adjunct professor of tourism at Hanyang University, said direct flights between Taiwan and Busan have largely been restored since the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing accessibility. Busan is geographically closer to Taiwan than the capital, Seoul, which is situated further up north.

“Taiwanese tourists often prefer quick dermatological treatments during short stays in Korea. In that sense, Busan offers a clear advantage,” he added.