Busan enlists foreign residents to welcome global travelers at its busiest transit hub

In the busy concourses of Busan Station, navigating transport routes and foreign signage can feel overwhelming for international travelers arriving in Korea’s premier coastal destination. To bridge that linguistic and cultural divide, local authorities are turning to an underutilized local asset: the city’s vibrant community of international students and foreign residents. Busan is placing these residents on the front line of its hospitality efforts, recruiting 14 volunteers from 10 countries to serve as mobile tourism guides inside the station. The city formally kicked off the initiative Tuesday with a launch ceremony at the Busan Global City Foundation for Visit Busan Mate, a pilot program aimed at making navigating local attractions, transit and amenities far more seamless for incoming tourists. The city can draw on a rapidly expanding demographic: while Busan’s total population has gradually declined over the past decade, its registered foreign residents have nearly doubled to exceed 80,000, driven by a surge in international students — now over 24,000 strong — and foreign