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| Foreign visitors to Seoul try personal color testing at a beauty zone inside Seoul Culture Square at Gwanghwamun Square during Seoul Festa 2023 held from April 30 to May 7. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul Festa 2023, an annual tourist festival hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, has cemented its status as an iconic international event after drawing nearly 200,000 foreign tourists.
The festival took place from April 30 to May 7 across the capital.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Monday, some 180,000 foreign tourists visited the city during the eight-day run and the figures represented 76 percent of the total number of foreign visitors to Korea during the period.
The government said the number of foreign visitors to the city during that period was 55 percent of the number of tourists who came in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. Last year, the number of foreign tourists reached 50 percent compared to the number in 2019. The city government believes the increase shows that international tourism in the city is getting back on track.
Multiple venues for the event were crowded with foreign tourists, according to the local government. At Jamsil Sports Complex on April 30, where the opening ceremony of a K-pop concert was held, a large number of tourists queued up in front of the stadium to watch the event despite poor weather across the city. Some 40 percent of the admission tickets were sold to foreign tourists.
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| Foreign visitors to Seoul Culture Square at Gwanghwamun Square listen to a Korean naming expert explaining about their possible Korean names during Seoul Festa 2023. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
At Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul, where Seoul Culture Square was set up during the festival with various tents to attract tourists interested in experiencing Korean cultural trends and traditional customs, over 32 percent of all visitors were from overseas, the government said.
According to surveys conducted by the city government, many foreign tourists enjoyed Seoul Festa 2023 held under the slogan, "Feel the Real Seoul." Over 85 percent of correspondents, both locals and tourists from overseas, said they were "satisfied" with the festival. Some 76 percent said the festival improved the city's image.
In a separate survey exclusively for foreign participants, 83 percent responded they will come back to Korea for another Seoul Festa in the future.
"The success of this year's Seoul Festa marks the starting point of the city's next chapter of tourism," said Kim Young-hwan, who heads the Tourism and Sports Bureau at the city government. He said the city will continue promoting itself to the global community and aims to attract 30 million tourists.
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| Foreigners line up outside Jamsil Sports Complex in eastern Seoul during Seoul Festa 2023, April 30. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
Major accomplishments, according to the city government, included the authority's strategic partnership with private tourism agencies prior to the festival's kickoff, which it said effectively promoted Seoul Festa 2023 to those planning to visit Korea.
Myeong-dong, a Seoul hotspot well known to shoppers and foodies, transformed its alleys and attractions within the district as a temporary artistic zone for the festival, which the city government said helped overcome the district's "previously dominant image as a pandemic-hit tourism hotspot on a steep downturn."
A nighttime drone light show at Han River also wowed crowds. The government said the display, exhibited for the first time in public on such a scale, will possibly become a regular show for the city from now on.
One of the tourists was cited by the authority saying Seoul Festa 2023 "offered a chance to experience K-pop and parts of Seoul like a Seoulite instead of just watching the event from the sidelines, like a visitor." Another foreign visitor, who flew to Korea to visit Jamsil Sports Complex for the K-pop concert, said she enjoyed it after only being able to watch shows via the internet for the past three years due to the pandemic.
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