Korea offers bus discounts to move foreign tourists beyond Seoul

For the millions of foreign tourists who visit Korea each year, the boundaries of vacations are often defined by the limits of the capital’s subway system. Venturing into the provinces has long meant confronting a fragmented, deeply analog intercity bus network whose digital reservation platforms remain largely inaccessible to holders of foreign passports and overseas credit cards. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Tourism Organization, announced a coordinated monthlong campaign on Monday to dismantle these transit barriers. Partnering with international travel booking platform Klook and fintech firm Hanpass, the government will subsidize tickets and provide digital perks from June 15 to July 14 to encourage independent travelers to explore the country’s rural interior. The initiative addresses a persistent bottleneck in Korea’s tourism infrastructure. While the country fully integrated international credit card processing at bus terminals in July 2024, the government notes that awareness of English-language online booking channels remains critically low

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