BTS Seoul Project Draws Global Fans as South Korea Records Tourism Highs

Global Fans Turn Seoul Into a BTS Destination

South Korea welcomed a record 2.06 million foreign visitors in March 2026 as BTS brought its comeback into Seoul's streets, historic landmarks and shopping districts. The month of music, installations and fan activities coincided with record tourism figures and sharp increases in spending around concert venues, giving businesses opportunities far beyond ticket sales.

BTS The City: Arirang Seoul ran from March 20 to April 19 to mark the release of the group's fifth full album, Arirang, and launch its world tour of the same name. Major landmarks became immersive fan experiences, turning parts of the capital into a festival that connected contemporary Korean music with the city's cultural heritage.

Big Hit Music, the group's label operated by HYBE, reported that approximately 73 percent of visitors to the media facade installation at Sungnyemun were foreign nationals. At Army Madang, an interactive space at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the international share exceeded 86 percent. Those figures show how strongly the project attracted people visiting from abroad.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recorded 4.76 million international arrivals during the first quarter, an increase of 23 percent from a year earlier and the highest quarterly total on record. Foreign credit card spending reached 3.21 trillion won, equivalent to $2.18 billion, also up 23 percent.

By April 23, the Seoul project had ended, while further editions were scheduled for Las Vegas and Busan. The immediate results ranged from bus ridership and cafe orders to spending by foreign concertgoers. Together, they illustrate how a major music event can send visitors into restaurants, shops, hotels and neighbourhoods throughout a city.

Historic Gates, Fan Activities and Illuminated Landmarks

Sungnyemun, a gate dating from the 14th century and one of Seoul's treasured historic landmarks, hosted a media facade installation. The display placed the BTS project against a setting associated with Korea's long history, making the landmark part of the comeback experience.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza offered a more participatory experience. At Army Madang, visitors designed fan merchandise and added to a large logo installation made from balls inscribed with lyrics. The programs combined BTS themes with Korean culture, allowing visitors to make and contribute something rather than simply look at a display.

Digital billboards, drone light shows and music themed illuminations at Banpo Bridge and N Seoul Tower extended the project across the capital. The different sites gave fans several places to visit and linked the event to familiar features of Seoul's skyline.

Seoul City Tour Tiger Bus reported a 20 percent increase in ridership during the project. Its special BTS tour connected Gwanghwamun, Namdaemun Market, HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan, Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Gyeongbokgung Palace. That route brought together music industry sites, shopping areas and historic attractions in a single itinerary.

Record Arrivals and Spending Across South Korea

Chinese visitors accounted for 1.45 million arrivals in the first quarter, an increase of 29 percent from the same period a year earlier. Japan followed with 940,915 visitors, up 20.2 percent, while arrivals from Taiwan rose 37.7 percent to 544,503.

Those three markets together supplied approximately 2.94 million of the quarter's 4.76 million arrivals, or about 62 percent. Taiwan recorded the fastest percentage growth among the three, while China contributed the largest number of visitors.

March's 2.06 million arrivals represented about 43 percent of the quarterly total. The figures place the BTS comeback within a strong period for inbound tourism, while the event's own attendance and spending measurements show where fans were gathering and buying.

The ministry's 3.21 trillion won figure measures foreign credit card spending across the quarter. The more local measurements, including concert area transactions and purchases by ticket holders, give a closer view of how visiting fans spent money during their time in South Korea.

Department Stores Prepare for Visiting Fans

Myeongdong retailers began preparing before BTS's free March 21 performance at Gwanghwamun Square. Department stores expected large numbers of international fans and designed promotions around the group's comeback.

Lotte Department Store ran its Welcome Lights project from March 19 to 22. The exterior of its flagship store and the nearby Avenuel luxury building glowed purple from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day. Purple is the colour associated with BTS and ARMY, the name of the group's global fan community.

Lotte's K-Wave Shopping Week ran from March 19 to 29. Foreign customers could receive Lotte gift certificates worth 7 percent of their purchases, along with souvenirs featuring Korean themes. The flagship store also opened a dedicated K-GIFT section with products including kimchi from Lotte Hotel and expanded its Korean food choices.

Lotte increased safety personnel by more than 50 percent to manage crowds. The extra staffing accompanied a campaign that sought to draw fans into stores through both evening displays and shopping incentives.

Shinsegae Department Store partnered directly with HYBE to open a temporary shop at its Heritage Museum space from March 20, selling the new album and official light sticks. Its Myeongdong branch held a K-Love Festival for international customers.

Shinsegae Duty Free created a K-WAVE Zone with BTS themed magazines, magnets, puzzles and plush toys. Collaborative products included a Super Tuna Edition gift set featuring BTS member Jin and kombucha drinks packaged with the TinyTan character brand.

Expectations of greater foreign spending also reached the stock market. Lotte Shopping shares closed at 98,200 won, up 4.58 percent, while Shinsegae rose 3.48 percent to 342,000 won. Yu Jung-hyun, an analyst at Daishin Securities, recommended an overweight position in the retail sector, meaning a larger allocation to retail shares than the relevant investment benchmark. Yu projected fresh records for inbound visitors as global fans travelled to Korea for concerts.

Travel Searches Jump From Busan to Brazil

Hotels.com recorded a rapid increase in travel interest after the January 14 tour announcement. Within 48 hours, international searches for Seoul rose 155 percent compared with the previous week, while searches for Busan, which will host concerts in June, increased 2,375 percent.

Busan searches from Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan rose by several thousand percent. Interest also increased within South Korea: domestic searches for Seoul climbed 190 percent, while those for Busan surged 3,855 percent.

Brazil showed another part of the response. BandNews FM, a radio station focused on news, treated BTS's October concert in Sao Paulo as a major national story. Local transport platform ClickBus recorded an increase of more than 600 times in searches for bus tickets to the city after the announcement.

Travel searches measure people looking for possible journeys. Concert ticket purchases, card spending and orders at businesses provide the accompanying measures of activity once fans make plans or arrive. The Seoul project brought several of these stages together, from initial interest to visits at specific sites.

A Comeback in Front of Gyeongbokgung Palace

BTS performed a free comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, directly in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal residence of the Joseon Dynasty. Statues of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong anchor the central Seoul axis, giving the setting a close connection to Korea's political and royal history.

Gwanghwamun had once been a traffic corridor. Its reconfiguration as a pedestrian plaza in 2022 created a major civic gathering place, which the concert temporarily turned into a controlled performance venue. Security barriers and separate viewing zones extended across a footprint of 1,200 metres.

The performance was also streamed on Netflix. Viewers watching the broadcast received a different experience from people negotiating barriers, distance and sightlines at the square.

Lee Benson, a photojournalist from Milwaukee Independent who documented the square's transformation over six days, described how the same concert appeared from those two perspectives:

From the ground at Gwanghwamun Square, the experience was shaped by barriers, distance, and constant negotiation for position. Back home, the same performance arrived as a complete broadcast, uninterrupted and fully framed. The difference was not just visual, but experiential.

The setting connected a global pop performance to some of Korea's most recognisable historic landmarks. The broadcast carried that combination to distant audiences, while fans in Seoul experienced a public square reorganised around crowd control and concert production.

Safety Controls Shape Attendance

South Korean authorities approached the gathering with heightened caution following the 2022 Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, which killed 159 people. Police presence increased during preparations, and the concert used layered barriers and controlled entry points to limit dangerous concentrations of spectators.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul issued a Security Alert on March 21 warning that the event might attract upwards of 250,000 spectators. It advised of enhanced security, road closures and effects on public transportation. South Korea classified the event as increasing the risk of a Mass Gathering Crowd Disaster and implemented a caution level crisis alert.

Entry points around the perimeter were sealed before viewing zones reached capacity. Attendance was restricted to approximately 50,000 people, compared with the anticipated 250,000. Staggered sections divided the crowd to prevent people from becoming tightly concentrated.

The controls also limited the experience for some fans who had travelled long distances. Many were unable to attend, while others expressed frustration over views obstructed by media cameras and barriers. Crowd safety and access were therefore central parts of the event, alongside the performance itself.

Goyang Concerts Bring a Sharp Spending Increase

Goyang hosted BTS concerts on April 9, 11 and 12. From April 6 to 12, foreign card transactions in the area increased 807 percent compared with the previous week, while spending across customers increased 231 percent.

Spending rose 1,069 percent at convenience stores, 1,109 percent at cafes, 600 percent at restaurants and 629 percent in retail purchases. The increases show that the activity surrounding a concert reaches businesses selling everyday food, drinks and goods.

Hana Card tracked spending by 30,000 foreign nationals who had purchased tickets for the Goyang concerts. That group spent approximately 55.5 billion won in South Korea between January 1 and April 12, averaging 1.85 million won per visitor. The measurement covers their purchases over that period, rather than just spending on concert days.

Lee Hwa Jeong, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained the wider pattern in remarks to Reuters:

Performances by artists with a global fandom like BTS do not end with ticket sales but drive tourism consumption throughout the entire city.

Goyang's figures give a concrete example of that process. Concertgoers need transport, meals and places to stay, and they may shop or visit other attractions during the same journey. Those purchases spread the financial activity beyond the performance venue.

Small Cafes and Places From BTS's Early Years

Woowa Brothers, which operates the food delivery app Baemin, supported 100 small cafes in Jongno-gu and Jung-gu with a drink campaign tied to the project. Participating businesses sold a limited edition beverage called The City Arirang Red Ade.

The company supplied omija syrup for approximately 20,000 drinks, along with packaging materials and promotional support. The program gave smaller businesses a way to take part in an event that also involved large retailers and major landmarks.

Average daily orders for collection at participating cafes rose by about 1,000 percent, while average daily sales from those orders increased 430 percent. Cafe owners said tourists came specifically to photograph the promotional materials, bringing foot traffic beyond the beverage purchases themselves.

Fans also visited places associated with BTS's early career, including the former headquarters of BigHit Music and Hakdong Park in Gangnam, where members spent time as trainees. Commercial tours offered guided itineraries through locations the group frequented during that period.

Those visits added a personal dimension to the citywide event. Alongside new installations and performances, fans sought out ordinary places connected to the group's history, spreading activity into neighbourhoods beyond the main concert sites.

Why the Name Arirang Matters

Arirang, the name of both the album and tour, is a traditional Korean folk song with roots stretching back centuries. Often described as an unofficial national anthem, it is associated with separation, longing, resilience and identity.

An early recording of the version most widely recognised internationally was made in 1896. Seven Korean students studying at Howard University in Washington DC were recorded on wax cylinders by American ethnologist Alice Cunningham Fletcher. A newspaper article titled Seven Koreans at Howard documented the recording, introducing the melody to audiences abroad and placing it within an archive of cultural preservation.

BTS's choice of Arirang connected its global comeback with that longer Korean experience. The title brought a song associated with national identity into a contemporary event watched, visited and discussed around the world.

The album was the group's first full length project since it paused group activities in 2022 to complete mandatory military service. During the hiatus, members pursued individual solo careers. The Seoul project marked the return of collective activity through both a new album and public events across the capital.

From the Tour Announcement to the Next City Events

The comeback unfolded over several months, beginning with travel interest in January and moving through Seoul's March events and Goyang's April concerts. The next scheduled city projects will extend the format beyond the capital.

• January 14: The world tour announcement triggered sharp increases in travel searches.
• March 19 to 29: Lotte's K-Wave Shopping Week ran, with its purple Welcome Lights display operating from March 19 to 22.
• March 20: BTS The City: Arirang Seoul began, and Shinsegae's temporary shop opened.
• March 21: BTS performed its free comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square, with a Netflix stream.
• April 9, 11 and 12: BTS concerts took place in Goyang.
• April 19: The Seoul city project ended.
• May 20 to 31: The Las Vegas edition is scheduled in the United States.
• June 5 to 21: The Busan edition is scheduled in South Korea.
• October: BTS has a concert scheduled in Sao Paulo.

Las Vegas and Busan are expected to use the same approach of transforming landmarks into immersive experiences. The Seoul project supplies the opening example of how that format can connect performances, tourism and local commerce.

Tour Forecasts and Korea's International Reputation

The world tour was described as an event spanning 82 dates in 34 cities, with the forward schedule also described as 82 shows across 34 regions remaining. Its scale places it among the year's largest global entertainment events.

NH Investment & Securities analysts projected that the tour could generate up to 4 trillion won in total economic impact. That estimate includes direct revenue and secondary spending, such as purchases at hotels, restaurants, transport services and shops. Ticket sales were projected to reach 2.7 trillion won.

Billboard's initial analysis estimated tour revenue at nearly 740 million pounds, while subsequent projections suggested that the figure could rise substantially higher. These remain forecasts as of April 23, with the tour's final revenue and wider spending totals still to be determined.

The difference between ticket revenue and total economic impact is straightforward: money spent to see a concert is one part of the activity, while money spent making the journey and staying in a destination is another. The card and business figures from Seoul and Goyang show examples of that additional spending.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's 2025 National Image Survey also recorded BTS's role in South Korea's international reputation. BTS ranked first among Koreans considered to have the most positive influence on the country's image. Jungkook placed sixth in the ranking and was the highest ranked solo artist from the group.

The survey results place the commercial activity alongside a broader cultural role. BTS functions as an unofficial cultural ambassador, bringing attention to Korean music, historic places, food and neighbourhoods while its fans generate business for the destinations they visit.

Key Points

• BTS The City: Arirang Seoul ran from March 20 to April 19, marking the fifth full album and the launch of the Arirang world tour.
• Foreign nationals accounted for approximately 73 percent of visitors at Sungnyemun and more than 86 percent at Army Madang.
• South Korea recorded 2.06 million foreign arrivals in March and 4.76 million in the first quarter, with quarterly arrivals and foreign card spending both rising 23 percent.
• Gwanghwamun's free March 21 concert used extensive crowd controls, with approximately 50,000 attendees compared with an anticipated 250,000.
• Hana Card tracked 55.5 billion won in spending by 30,000 foreign Goyang concert ticket holders between January 1 and April 12.
• Retailers, tour buses and small cafes recorded or anticipated gains as fans travelled, shopped and visited BTS locations.
• Analysts projected up to 4 trillion won in total economic impact from the tour, including ticket revenue and spending beyond venues.
• The next city projects are scheduled for Las Vegas from May 20 to 31 and Busan from June 5 to 21.