Busan Bets on Design, Culture and Coastal Charm to Become South Korea's Creative Destination

Crabs are lifted live from tanks and cooked to order. Teenagers walk past in fan gear for their favorite pop idols. Mothers and daughters sit side by side in a naturally heated pool. All of this is Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, which has spent the past few years trying to stop being the side trip tacked onto a Seoul visit and become a destination of its own.

On the southeast coast, Busan is known for warm, placid weather, an avid surfing community and an annual sand sculpture contest that produces miniature Pyramids of Giza and Mount Rushmore. Rebecca Barry, South Korea product manager at Inside Travel Group, says it offers something different from the capital: a coast, beaches, a slower pace and people she describes as much more vivacious. The comparison CNN draws is that if Seoul is New York, Busan is Los Angeles: younger, cooler, less stressed.

Much of the change is physical. The Busan North Port district, once a working-class area beside an active shipping harbor, has been re-conceived and linked by a pedestrian route. Visitors can leave the central train station and follow an elevated walkway past the waterfront and over the freeways. Busan is one of the world's biggest port cities, and it has approved a series of design-forward projects meant to alter its skyline and its cultural standing.

Lotte Tower, still under construction, is one of them. It sits on a waterfront site that once held the city hall, and its stacked-disc form is inspired by crashing waves. It is expected to include at least one luxury hotel, plus high-end shops and offices. Down the road is Jagalchi, the country's biggest fish market. The city government has made it friendlier to tourists by upgrading bathrooms, moving outdoor vendors indoors and being more open about food hygiene. At a 2025 press conference, Mayor Park Heong-joon pledged to build it into a leading brand of maritime culture and seafood tourism, and said the city would spare no support.

The most attention-grabbing structure may be an opera house by the architecture firm Snøhetta, scheduled to open in late 2027. Emily Yan, the firm's Asia-based director, says Busan is shifting from a port city to a design-driven one, and that the building will catalyze development around it. Like the opera houses of Oslo and Sydney, much of it will be open to the public around the clock without a ticket. A popular local coffee brand will have an outpost on the roof, though officials declined to say which. Yan says it is much more than a traditional opera house. The city has also voiced its ambition to become a "15-minute city," a concept from urbanist Carlos Moreno in which work, school, shops and green space are all within 15 minutes of home by foot, bike or transit. North Port is already a proof of concept.

Creativity has other footholds. Living costs are lower than in Seoul, which makes it easier for young people to start projects or small businesses. The Busan Film Festival, launched in 1996, now draws A-list actors and directors, and the Busan Cinema Centre, a year-round venue opened in 2011, holds the world's largest cantilevered roof. The Museum of Contemporary Art reopened in 2026 after a multi-year, $32 million renovation and expansion.

Getting there has become easier. The KTX high-speed train links Seoul and Busan in just under three hours, and Gimhae International Airport has direct flights from Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In 2025 Gimhae passed 10 million international travelers for the first time. Traffic is heavy enough that the government approved a second airport, Gadeokdo, on an island south of the city, due to open in 2035. From Fukuoka, Japan, a ferry takes six hours.

The demand figures are rising. Airbnb named Busan a destination on the rise for 2026, and Expedia listed it among places to visit in 2027, citing a 50% year-over-year rise in searches. Lyla Seo, Airbnb's South Korea country manager, says research found 79% of international visitors and prospective travelers want to go beyond Seoul, and that they name Busan first. Airbnb searches for Busan stays are up 30% in a year. Barry says 74% of Inside Travel Group's South Korea bookings in 2025 included Busan.

Hotels are following. Hyatt Centric opened near City Hall in 2025, a Banyan Tree beachside property is due by the end of this year, and a wellness-focused Hilton is planned near the Haedong Yonggungsa temple. Barry recalls limited lodging when her company began selling Korea three or four years ago. Now, she says, Busan has no qualms about building something new, and knows this is its moment in the sun. What to watch is whether new hotels and the second airport sustain the growth the booking platforms are reporting.