43% Increase in Foreign Visitors to Songpa-gu During Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival

Published 31 Oct.2024 07:37(KST)

Songpa-gu Analyzes Big Data of Foreign Visitors During 3-Day Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival
Total 34,712 Foreigners... 20,700 Overseas Residents, 43% Increase from Previous Year
Visitors from Uruguay, Malta, Burkina Faso with Little Exchange Also Attend
Seokchon Lake, Lotte Mall, and 'Songridan-gil' and 'Hosudan-gil' Rise as Tourist Spots

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced on the 31st that the number of foreign visitors residing overseas who visited local attractions during this year’s ‘Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival’ increased by 43% compared to last year, reaching 20,700.

The district held the ‘24th Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival’ from September 27 to 29 at the Peace Plaza in Olympic Park. The festival, themed ‘The Power of Culture Connecting Hearts and Minds,’ attracted about 300,000 visitors over three days.

In particular, the district conducted big data analysis focusing on foreign visitors to understand the impact of the local festival on tourism activation. The data was based on information from SK Telecom.

The analysis period compared this year’s festival dates with those of last year’s festival, from September 22 to 24, 2023. The analysis targeted six locations including the main festival stage at Peace Plaza, as well as local attractions such as Seokchon Lake, Bangi Matgol, Songridan-gil, Hosudan-gil, and the Lotte area.

The analysis showed that a total of 34,712 foreigners visited the target locations during this year’s festival period. Among them, 14,012 were foreign residents in Korea (long-term stay), and 20,700 were foreigners residing overseas (short-term stay).

2024 Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival Opening Ceremony

Notably, the number of foreigners visiting Songpa-gu purely for tourism increased. Compared to the previous year, domestic foreign residents increased by only 85 people, a 0.6% rise, whereas overseas foreign visitors increased by 6,169 people, a significant 43% increase.

A large portion of foreign visitors came from neighboring countries such as China, Japan, and Taiwan. The ranking of total visitors by country showed slight changes at the top: in 2023, the order was Taiwan, China, Japan, the United States, and Germany, while this year it shifted to China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

On the other hand, this year Songpa-gu attracted visitors from a more diverse and larger number of countries. The number of countries represented increased from an average of 87 over three days last year to 97 this year, an increase of 10 countries.

Visitors also came from countries with little exchange with Korea, such as Uruguay on the opposite side of the globe, as well as Malta, Burkina Faso, Guyana, and Andorra, drawing attention.

The most visited places by visitors in both years were Seokchon Lake and the Lotte Mall area. The difference was that the food destination, previously represented by ‘Bangi Matgol,’ expanded over the year to include ‘Songridan-gil’ and ‘Hosudan-gil.’ Visitors to these two places increased by 224 and 184 respectively.

The district analyzed that efforts to revitalize the local economy, such as producing the Songridan-gil guidebook and naming Hosudan-gil, have shown positive effects.

During and around the period of the district’s representative festival, the ‘Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival,’ various events and cultural arts programs continue to be held throughout the area, including Seokchon Lake, Olympic Park, and Songridan-gil, providing attractions. This year, events such as the youth arts festival ‘Yaho Festival,’ Korean cooking classes for foreigners, and the light festival ‘Autumn and Winter of the Lake, and Luminaria’ were held.

Mayor Seo Gang-seok stated, “This statistic shows that local festivals provide unique tourism content to foreign tourists seeking sights and entertainment,” and added, “We will continue to hold various cultural and artistic events to develop Songpa-gu into a global tourist destination attracting visitors year-round from around the world.”