Expedia names Busan a top 2027 destination, sustainable tourism standout
source: Busan Tourism ArchiveBusan has been named one of Expedia’s top 10 travel destinations for 2027, the only Korean city to make the list.Expedia is a Seattle-based online travel booking platform and part of Expedia Group, which also runs Hotels.com and Vrbo. Each year, the company publishes Unpack, a report on the trends shaping travel in the year ahead.Busan ranked fifth worldwide on the report’s Destinations of the Year list. The list spotlights 10 places across four continents where traveler interest is growing fastest, based on flight and accommodation searches on Expedia.Searches for Busan rose 50% from a year earlier.South Lake Tahoe, California, took the top spot with a 195% jump, followed by Hyogo, Japan (95%); Punta del Este, Uruguay (65%); and Sedona, Arizona (55%).Expedia billed Busan as a vibrant seaside city with buzzing markets and a diverse food scene. Melanie Fish, a vice president at Expedia Group, cited the city’s “seaside markets” among the highlights of this year’s list.Expedia also named three must-see attractions that visitors can cover in a single day: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Haeundae Beach and Jagalchi Market.Busan is drawing attention for more than its popularity. The city is one of six destinations on the list to meet Expedia’s Smart Travel Health Check, a framework that recognizes places that manage tourism responsibly.The framework draws on principles from the World Travel & Tourism Council. It looks at how well destinations plan and monitor tourism, involve local residents and reinvest tourism revenue.The other five are Hyogo; Sedona; Perugia, Italy; The Tweed, Australia; and Chichester, Britain.<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>continent: 대륙 accommodation: 숙박업소 draw: 관심을 끌다 framework: 뼈대 revenue: 수익Editor: Song SoomiCopy Editors: Ryu Hyoseung, Anton J. Mapoy
2026 UN Weeks in Busan (October 23-November 11, 2026)
‘UN Weeks in Busan’, from UN Day (Oct. 24) to the Turn Toward Busan event (Nov. 11), is a commemorative 3-week long ceremony in acknowledgement of the war veterans who fought for freedom during the Korean War, and for those fallen heroes whose sacrifices were devoted to peace. UN Weeks in Busan has been taking place annually since 2019.Major events of 2026 UN Weeks in Busan○ We Go Together, One Peace (October 16-November 1, 2026)https://bgcf.or.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=noticewr_id=645○ Blue Lights for Peace (October 19-30, 2026)Illumination of major landmarks in Busan, including Gwangandaegyo Bridge, Busan Cinema Center, Busan Tower, and more.○ The 81st United Nations Day Ceremony: October 23, 2026, UN Memorial Cemetery○ World Peace Forum 2026: Monday, November 2, 2026, 13:30-16:00, The Westin Josun Busan- Theme: K-Culture: A New Language of Peace DiplomacyGo to Registration○ “Turn Toward Busan” Memorial Ceremony: Wednesday, November 11, 2026, 11:00 a.m., UN Memorial Cemetery (Silent tribute for one minute)
The 28th UN Peace Festival Transforms into a Participatory Arts Festival
The ‘28th UN Peace Festival,’ to be held at Peace Park from Friday, October 23 to Sunday, October 25, is being transformed into a participatory arts festival. For the first time since its launch, the Busan Nam-gu Cultural Foundation will oversee the entire festival, attempting a range of fresh and innovative changes.Held under the slogan ‘Open Memories, Open Future,’ this year’s festival visualizes the meaning of peace through the motif of a puzzle, under the theme ‘Many Pieces Come Together to Complete One Peace.’Building on the historical and cultural identity of Nam-gu as a city of peace, the festival is designed as a participatory arts festival in which visitors do more than simply watch - residents and artists come together to explore the meaning of peace through a variety of hands-on activities.Throughout the festival, a variety of programs will be offered across Peace Park, centered on five themed zones: ▲ Memory Zone ▲ Participation Zone ▲ Performance Zone ▲ Connection Zone ▲ Future Zone.A variety of arts programs involving residents and artists are also planned, and Nam-gu’s Resident Autonomy Expo, Welfare Expo, and Chrysanthemum Exhibition will be held together with busking performances by the winning teams of the youth busking competition.Source: Busan Namgu News (October 2026)
Taste of Busan
Songdo Beach and Cheonmasan Observatory Complex
Busan City Tour
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