Yeosu City Sees Increase in 2023 Tourists Compared to Previous Year Based on Big Data

27.59 million total, 1.6% increase compared to 2022

Foreign tourists increased 8 times year-on-year

People in their 20s prefer stay-type tourism at Yeosu Night Sea

Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong) announced on the 5th that the cumulative number of tourists in 2023 reached 27.59 million, marking a 1.6% increase compared to 2022, according to the analysis of Yeosu tourism big data.

The ‘Yeosu Tourism Big Data Analysis’ is a dataset that effectively and practically classifies non-local tourists based on mobile communication and credit card sales data of tourists visiting Yeosu City, aimed at improving the quality of tourism policies annually.

[Photo by Yeosu City]

The 2023 analysis results highlight a remarkable achievement: the number of foreign tourists reached a total of 230,000, increasing more than eightfold compared to 2022, strengthening Yeosu’s leap toward becoming a ‘Global Marine Tourism Resort City.’

This is attributed to Yeosu City’s efforts over the past seven years, including attracting five international cruise ships such as the entry of Chinese cruise lines, and active overseas MICE attraction marketing, solidifying its position as a global MICE city and effectively implementing customized attraction strategies for foreign tourists.

Looking further into the analysis results, by age group, tourists in their 40s and 50s visited Yeosu the most, followed by those in their 20s and 30s. The months with the highest number of tourists were July and August, indicating that Yeosu is recognized as a popular summer vacation destination.

Additionally, preferred tourist spots by age group showed that tourists in their 20s and 30s favored Jongpo Marine Park and the Yeosu Expo site, while those in their 50s and 60s tended to enjoy beautiful natural sceneries such as Odongdo Island, Hyangiram Hermitage, and Nangdo and Jobaldo Islands.

The number of overnight guests also increased by 6.9% compared to 2022, reaching 6.27 million, with those in their 20s accounting for the largest proportion. This is believed to be partly due to Yeosu City’s various stay-type tourism products launched last year in celebration of the ‘Jeollanam-do Visit Year,’ including the ‘Group Tourist Attraction Compensation Support’ and the ‘Namdo Accommodation Discount BIG Event’ projects.

An official from the city stated, “Based on the results of this ‘Yeosu Tourism Big Data Analysis,’ we will actively develop new tourism content and implement customized, close marketing to attract even more domestic and international tourists to Yeosu this year.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.