Announcement of the Yanolja Charming Index, which analyzes the tourist experience
New York in the U.S. and Osaka in Japan
Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Incheon, and Daegu are all in the top 100
Seoul has been listed as one of the world‘s top five tourist cities for two consecutive years. The attractiveness of tourists who actually experienced Seoul ranked fourth in the world. Busan, Jeju, Incheon, and Daegu all made it to the top 100.
Yanolja Research held a “2026 Global Tourist City Attractiveness Evaluation Seminar” in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th and announced the Yanolja Attractiveness Index, which evaluated major tourist cities around the world from the perspective of tourists.
Yanolja Research conducted an evaluation jointly with Purdue University’s CHRIBA Research Institute and Kyung Hee University’s H&T Analytics Center. The number of people surveyed increased from 191 last year to 261 cities this year. Among them, the top 200 cities were announced.
the attractiveness of the city as evaluated by tourists themselves
The Yanolja attractiveness index focused on what tourists actually felt and talked about rather than the infrastructure prepared by suppliers, such as airports, accommodation facilities, and policies. The analysis period is from June last year to May this year. We used 14 language data provided by BrandWatch, a British social media analysis platform.
The evaluation consisted of two axes: ‘recognition’ and ‘attractiveness’. Awareness measured how widely the city was known based on social media references. The attractiveness was examined through emotional analysis to see how strong the positive evaluation of tourists is.
New York ranked first overall this year. It rose three places from fourth place last year. New York ranked first in recognition, followed by three categories: beauty, natural scenery, experience content, and hospitality.
Paris, France, remained in second place for the second consecutive year. It also ranked first in the cultural and historical categories. Osaka, Japan, which was No. 1 overall last year, fell to No. 3, but ranked No. 1 in the world in the attractiveness ranking released separately for the first time this year.
Kyoto, Japan, came in fourth overall, followed by Seoul in fifth place. It was followed by London in the UK, Rome in Italy, Bangkok in Thailand, Okinawa in Japan, and Chicago in the US.
The top 50 cities had the most Asian cities with 22. There were 18 in the Americas, 9 in Europe, and 1 in Oceania. By country, the United States had the largest number of cities with 16, followed by Japan with eight. South Korea, Italy and China each placed three cities in the top 50.
New York, Paris, London, Rome, and Bangkok were among the top five recognition spots. On the other hand, the top five attractions were Osaka, Kyoto, New York, Seoul, and Paris. Traditional Western tourist cities showed high popularity, and Asian cities were strong in terms of actual experience satisfaction.
5th place in Seoul for 2 consecutive years…4th in the world for attractiveness
Seoul has maintained the world’s top five for two consecutive years, receiving even reviews in each category. It ranked third in beauty and natural scenery, experience content, and hospitality, respectively. Culture and history also ranked seventh, with all four categories in the top 10.
Kwon Hyuk-bin, head of the tourism industry division of the Seoul Tourism Foundation, said, “Every time I wrote down a business plan for more than 10 years after joining the company, I wrote down the goal of being a ‘global top five tourist city,’ and added, “I am thrilled that the goal, which felt like a cliché of slogans, is actually being realized.”
Busan ranked 42nd overall and Jeju ranked 44th, entering the top 50. Incheon ranked 51st and Daegu ranked 88th, which were included in the survey for the first time this year. All five Korean cities ranked in the world’s top 100.
Local cities showed a common point that they were more attractive than recognition. Busan ranked 52nd in recognition and 26th in attractiveness, and Jeju ranked 67th and 22nd. Incheon ranked 76th and 27th, and Daegu ranked 107th and 54th.
Choi Kyu-wan, a professor at Kyung Hee University, said, “Cities with high attractiveness but low recognition are ‘hidden jewels’ that can grow quickly through marketing,” adding, “We need to link the demand for visit to Seoul to provincial cities that have already proven their attractiveness.”
The attention I got from K contents, I need to connect it to local visits
In the panel discussion that followed, Jang Su-cheong, the director, was the chairperson. Han Hye-ri, secretary-general of the Visit to Korea Committee, Ahn Hee-ja, head of tourism policy research at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, Kwon Hyuk-bin, head of the tourism industry division of the Seoul Tourism Foundation, Mok Joon-kyun, executive director and head of the Incheon Tourism Organization, and Jeong Sang-hoon, a professor at Boston University School of Hotel and Tourism, participated.
As solutions to raise awareness of Korean tourism, K contents, mega-events, and voluntary spread of human influencer were suggested.
“Knowing a country and wanting to travel to that country is another matter,” said Han Hye-ri, secretary-general. “Tourism awareness also includes an understanding of what can be done in that country.”
Analysts say that while mega events such as the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup have raised national awareness, K-content, which has recently spread through Netflix and YouTube, is raising Korea’s awareness and charm.
“The interest in K-dramas, K-pop, and K-food has already spread across borders into global culture,” a secretary-general said. “Now, rather than pouring out promotional expenses to inform the destination, we need a design that turns vague curiosity into confidence in actual visits.”
In particular, he stressed the need to experience and voluntarily share global human influencer that visited Korea. “In order to raise awareness, we also need to continue to deliver the same message like a broken radio,” he added.
“Succeeded in Seoul Tourism. Letting it go to the provinces.”
Seoul has entered the world’s top five tourist cities, but the next task has also become clear. It is necessary to spread tourism demand concentrated in Seoul to the region and solve the payment, map, language, and transportation problems that foreigners face in the process of traveling.
Diversifying tourism demand in Seoul to provincial areas was also cited as a key task.
Kwon Hyuk-bin, head of the headquarters, said, “When the era of 30 million foreign tourists comes, it is difficult to accommodate all of Seoul’s infrastructure alone,” adding, “Regional dispersion is Seoul’s duty and survival strategy.”
The Seoul Tourism Foundation is inviting local governments to participate in the Seoul International Travel Mart. Local tourism contents and MICE products will also be promoted through “Beyond Seoul” and “Plus Cities.”
It also plans to expand special-purpose tourism aimed at individual subdivided tastes. It is an experience that dee specializing in knitting in Yeonhui-dong or buying instant roasted seaweed at Namdaemun Market
“Travel selection criteria have shifted from the popular average to individual tastes and emotions,” Kwon said. “We can combine endless tastes such as sports, performances, exhibitions, superstitions, wine, and whiskey with night tours and local tours.”
Incheon, which was included in the evaluation list for the first time this year, ranked 51st overall. Although it did not make it to the top 50, it was evaluated that it formed the second group of Korean provincial cities after Busan and Jeju.
Mok Joon-kyun, head of the Incheon Tourism Organization, cited the image of a “passing city” as Incheon’s biggest task.
Numerous foreigners enter through Incheon International Airport and ports, but most of them move directly to other areas such as Seoul. The advantage of the entry gate is rather a structure that obscures Incheon’s presence as a destination.
“Many foreigners come in through Incheon Airport and ports, but Incheon is still recognized as a passing city,” Mok said. “We need to make Incheon’s own story as tourism content beyond the fact that there are airports and ports.”
kindness alone is not enough…Payment, guidance, and language are also “hospitality.”
The panelists cited hospitality as the next competitive advantage of Korean tourism. Hospitality is not just a matter of greeting tourists with a smile. It includes an environment in which foreigners do not feel uncomfortable during the entire travel process, such as reservation, movement, payment, and information search.
Kwon explained that the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Association are running street campaigns, mystery shoppers, and foreign tourist satisfaction surveys to improve tourism services.
However, he pointed out that rip-off charges, unfair payments, and refusal to refund some businesses remain tasks to be solved.
“It is also welcome to reduce the psychological and physical difficulties of foreign tourists, such as real-time translation, map services, and the use of overseas payment methods,” he said. “Digital infrastructure can also be felt as a city’s consideration for tourists.”
He emphasized that in order to welcome tourists, the lives of residents must also be protected.
Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul was designated as a special management area to reduce the inconvenience of residents caused by the increase in tourists. Travel time for tourists and access to chartered buses were also restricted. While residents demand protection of the living environment, some merchants are concerned about falling sales and intensifying competition.
Director Kwon said, “Sustainable hospitality is possible only when the lives of Seoul citizens are protected,” adding, “It should lead to sincere hospitality through a process of coordination between residents, commercial districts, and tourists.”
Incheon is promoting ‘smart hospitality’ using digital technology. English, Chinese, and Japanese services were applied to the “Incheon Easy” application that provides tourism information and movement guidance.
“The island and the original city center have limitations in educating all residents directly due to the large number of elderly people,” Mok said. “We are strengthening our digital foundation so that foreigners can travel comfortably using smart devices.”
Yanolja Research plans to release its attractiveness index every year in the future to track changes in the competitiveness of global tourist cities.
