Korean music festivals pique interest of international travelers – Agoda observes over 2.5x more searches
Digital travel platform Agoda noted an increase in searches from inbound travelers looking to travel to Korea in the summer months of June to August. This coincides with the buzz around popular local music festivals such as the 2024 Busan One Asia Festival, Waterbomb Daegu and the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival. Busan tops the list as the most searched city followed by Jeju, Incheon, Daegu and Gyeongju rounding up the top five.
This summer, Busan, Incheon, and Daegu are hosts to large-scale K-music festivals that are a part of Korea Tourism Organization’s list of “2024 K-Culture Travel Events 100”. The initiative, which is part of the local government’s ” campaign, aims to attract international tourists to see more of Korea’s culture. Agoda search data shows an upward trend in traveler interest to these cities during the respective festival periods, with Taiwanese and Japanese travelers leading the pack.
Hiroto Ooka, Associate Vice President, North Asia, Supply at Agoda, explained, “International travelers are increasingly seeking exciting events and experiences, inspiring travel for cultural events in Asia and we see that present in Korea as well. Culture appears to contribute to Korea’s high inbound travel industry potential, as the .” He added, “Agoda will continue to offer great deals on activities, flights and accommodation for international travelers visiting Korea, to ensure they have a comfortable and convenient experience while exploring the country’s culture.”
Zooming in on Busan, Agoda data reveals a 158% growth in searches in June compared to the same period in 2023. The growth in interest is in line with the 2024 Busan One Asia Festival held from June 7 to 9 which featured K-pop idols with large international fan bases, such as Zero Base One and Boy Next Door. Travelers from Taiwan top the list of inbound to Busan during this period, followed closely by Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
Meanwhile, Daegu showed a 270% increase in searches at the time when Korea’s largest summer music festival, Waterbomb, is taking place. Held on July 20, the artist line-up included globally popular . Similarly to Busan, Taiwanese and Japanese travelers make up the top two inbound travelers, with travelers from Mainland China, United States and Hong Kong rounding off the list.
Coming up in Incheon, the Pentaport Rock Festival is to be held from August 2 to 4 and searches to Incheon have seen a 1.5x growth compared to the same period in 2023. Most searches for Incheon came from Japan, Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and the United States. Selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as one of the “top three global festivals”, this government supported event is expected to surpass last year’s record of 150,000 attendees.
In addition to over 4.5 million holiday properties, Agoda also offers more than 130,000 flight routes and over 300,000 activities, which can all be combined in the same booking. Travelers can now conveniently plan their trips to all international mega events, including vibrant music festivals in Korea, to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience.