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Busan Metropolitan City Signs Letter of Intent with Airalo to Ease Travel Costs for Citizens and Support Foreign Tourists

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for cooperation today (March 16) at 11:00 a.m. in the International Protocol Room on the 7th floor of City Hall with Airalo, a global unicorn company.

The LOI includes the following areas of cooperation: joint incubation of local startups in the tourism sector; provision of 100,000 free eSIM voucher codes (worth USD 4.5 each) for foreign visitors to Busan; development and distribution of Busan Metropolitan City–exclusive eSIM products; provision of eSIM voucher codes and global discount codes to support Busan citizens traveling abroad and Busan youth expanding overseas; provision of free or special eSIM services to foreign participants attending international events hosted by Busan Metropolitan City; joint promotion and marketing activities to revitalize eSIM use among overseas tourists; and the provision to Busan Metropolitan City of data such as eSIM usage by nationality, activation timing, and data usage distribution to support the advancement of Busan’s tourism policies.

This agreement was initiated following Airalo’s participation in the global exhibition booth at Fly Asia 2025, a startup expo hosted by Busan Metropolitan City last year.

Airalo is a unicorn company nurtured by Plug and Play, a startup accelerator based in Silicon Valley in the United States. Through the introduction of Plug and Play, Airalo participated in Fly Asia 2025 and operated an exhibition booth for visitors.

The agreement includes not only free eSIM services provided by Airalo for foreign tourists but also discount codes for Busan citizens traveling abroad and Busan youth entering overseas markets. These measures are expected to reduce the burden of data roaming costs for citizens traveling internationally.

In addition, Airalo has agreed to provide Busan Metropolitan City with data on usage by foreign visitors, including their data consumption while in Busan. This information is expected to help further refine and advance the city’s tourism policies.

Following the signing of the agreement, Busan Metropolitan City and Airalo will first collaborate on preliminary promotional programs. Details regarding the method and locations for distributing the free eSIM services will be discussed later and announced separately.

Melvin NG, Asia-Pacific Regional Director of Airalo, stated, “Busan is an attractive destination for foreign tourists thanks to its outstanding natural environment. I understand that in 2025 the number of foreign tourists visiting Busan reached 3.64 million, a 24 percent increase compared to 2024. This agreement is Airalo’s first with a local government in Korea, and we hope it will contribute, even in a small way, to Busan’s goal of attracting five million foreign visitors.”

Mayor Park Heong-joon said, “This agreement includes not only free eSIM services for foreign visitors to Busan but also a range of benefits for Busan citizens traveling abroad. At a time when the tourism industry is expected to face challenges due to rising fuel surcharges caused by instability in the Middle East, this cooperation will help meaningfully reduce the financial burden for both foreign tourists visiting Busan and citizens traveling overseas.”