The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), along with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute and the Korea Tourism Organization, has released the findings of an on-site survey and big data analysis of overseas fans who visited Korea to see BTS’s comeback show and Goyang concert.
The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute surveyed 1,871 attendees at the March 21 Gwanghwamun concert and 2,328 attendees across the three Goyang shows on April 9, 11 and 12. The KTO analyzed mobile carrier and credit card data from the administrative districts surrounding each venue.
Gwanghwamun Visitors vs Other Tourists
The data showed that overseas fans who flew to Korea for the BTS comeback show at Gwanghwamun Plaza stayed longer and spent more.
| Q1 TOURISTS 2026 | BTS GWANGHWAMUN VISITORS | ARIRANG GOYANG CONCERT | |
| LENGTH OF STAY | 6.1 days | 8.7 days | 7.4 days |
| AVERAGE SPEND | ₩2.45M | ₩3.53 million ($2,400) | ₩2.91 million ($2,000) |
Lodging accounted for the largest share of that spending at:
- roughly ₩1.35 million per person,
- transportation (₩1.14 million),
- shopping (₩580,000 won) and
- food and beverages (₩470,000 won).
According to Seoul City Tour Tiger Bus, ridership rose by about 20 percent compared to usual levels during the project period, during which a special city tour bus program, “Seoul City Tour Bus with BTS The City,” operated. The bus connected key locations across the city, including Gwanghwamun, Namdaemun Market, Hybe Headquarters in Yongsan, Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Gyeongbokgung.
The Arirang Goyang stop attracted more international visitors though. This may be because the Gwanghwamun comeback show was too close to the Goyang shows. Many may have already booked their flights and hotels for the Goyang stop.
| BTS GWANGHWAMUN VISITORS | ARIRANG GOYANG CONCERT | |
| International visitor | 44.7% | 59.8% |
| Long-term foreign residents: | 19.5% | 9.4%. |
| Koreans: | 35.8% | 30.9% |
More Americans attended the Gwanghwamun show while Chinese dominated the Goyang shows.
| BTS GWANGHWAMUN VISITORS | ARIRANG GOYANG CONCERT |
| Japanese (23.1%) Filipinos (11.7%t) Americans (8.%) | Chinese (28.8%),Japanese (12.%), Taiwanese (8.%), Filipinos (7.%) and Russians (5%). |
The concerts also functioned as a primary draw for inbound travel.
At Gwanghwamun, 73.6% of international visitors said the BTS performance was the main purpose of their trip to Korea.
In Goyang, 95.4% of surveyed foreign visitors actually attended the concert, and 96% stayed overnight in Korea.
Visiting The City
These fans also spent a significant amount of their stay participating in various ‘BTS The City Seoul’ activities, visiting Yongsan, Myeong-dong, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and more.
According to Big Hit Music, around 73% of visitors to the media facade installation at Sungnyemun were foreign nationals.
At “Army Madang,” an interactive space set up at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the share of international visitors exceeded 86%. The space featured a range of participatory programs that highlighted Korean culture, including designing fan merchandise and creating a large-scale logo installation using lyric-inscribed balls.
KTO’s big-data analysis pointed to a similar pattern in surrounding districts. The comparison of Daehwa-dong itself, the administrative district hosting the Goyang Sports Complex, shows that:
- foreign visitors to the neighborhood jumped from 1,397 recorded in the same period last year to 48,581 across the three concert days — a 3,377 percent increase.
- Card spending by foreign nationals rose from 8.9 million won to 337.8 million won, up 3,699 percent.
Capitalizing on the BTS Effect
South Korea recorded a first-quarter record of 4.76 million foreign tourist arrivals, up 23 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday.
The figure represents the highest first-quarter total on record, achieved despite geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that emerged in March.
March alone saw around 2.06 million inbound visitors, up 27 percent from 1.61 million from a year ago, setting a new monthly record. BTS made their comeback on March 21 at the Gwanghwamun square.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hopes to further capitalize on the “BTS effect” during the upcoming Busan concerts from June 12-13, encouraging fans to participate in ‘Welcome Week’ activities from June 1-15, including regional K-Pop concerts and K-culture exhibitions, themed tours visiting K-drama and K-Pop music video filming sites, and more.
Based on this and similar data, the Ministry plans to expand support and resources for extended stay tourism linked to K-culture.
Even private companies are starting to ride the wave. Korea Air is leading it.
Korean Air has partnered with Weverse, the fan platform of HYBE, to broaden mileage redemption options, allowing customers to use points for digital and fan-based services, the company announced Tuesday.
Under the partnership, members of Korean Air’s Skypass loyalty program can redeem mileage points for Weverse’s digital currency, “Jelly.” A nine-jelly voucher costs 270 miles, while a 15-jelly voucher requires 450 miles.
Customers can purchase vouchers through the airline’s mileage mall and redeem them on Weverse for services such as digital memberships, direct messaging subscriptions and other fan engagement features.
The program is available to Skypass members globally.
TAMPA AND MEXICO
The President of CANACO National Chamber of Commerce, Services, and Tourism, Vicente Gutiérrez, estimates an economic impact of $1.86B MXN ($106M USD / ₩157B KRW) in Mexico covering only ticket prices, hotel, and food.
Estimates for other industries are not in yet.
The breakdown including:
🎟️ Tickets: $1.53B MXN
🏨 Hotels: $294M MXN
🍴 Food & Services: $37.6M MXN
TAMPA’s local news station provided a more comprehensive estimate on BTS’s economic impact on TAMPA to be between $800M to $900M. They included both direct and indirect expenses including transportation, shopping, tourism and extended stays.
For context, this is more than the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in 2023 which generated $700 -$800M and more than the Super Bowl 55 in 2021 which generated $485M!
They are headed to Mexico, then Standford, and spend 4 days in Vegas before heading back to South Korea for their annual FESTA.
They will do a complete takeover of Vegas with the local government turning the whole city into an ARMY playground. The economic impact is anticipated to be greater.
US CHARTS
Now let’s move to charts.
ARIRANG’s title track “Swim” landed at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated May 9. The B-side “Body to Body” also stayed on the Hot 100 at No. 99 for a sixth consecutive week.
The album ended the week at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and ranked No. 3 on Top Album Sales, No. 7 on Top Streaming Albums and No. 8 on Vinyl Albums, while “Swim” reached No. 4 on Digital Song Sales.
Swim ranked No. 2 on the Global Excl. US chart and No. 3 on the Global 200, extending its run in the top three to six consecutive weeks. All 13 vocal tracks from the album — excluding the sixth track, “No. 29,” which features the sound of the King Seongdeok Divine Bell — also remained on both charts.
‘ARIRANG’ is the most streamed 2026 album on Spotify.
BTS’ “Swim” is the most streamed song released in 2026 on Spotify. It surpasses Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might” today.
In April alone, BTS gathered 1,656,265,653 streams on Spotify, the Biggest streaming month for any Group and Asian Act in history, breaking their own record once again.
Most streamed artists of 2026 across all platforms globally so far (via Luminate):
1. Bad Bunny 11.5B
2. Taylor Swift 8.4B
3. Drake 6.5B
4. Bruno Mars 5.6B
5. The Weeknd 5.4B
6. BTS 4.7B
7. Justin Bieber 3.8B
8. Rihanna 3.7B
9. Ariana Grande 3.6B
10. Billie Eilish 3.5B
They have surpassed 96 BILLION streams on all Audio On-Demand Digital Streaming Platforms Globally. They are the Most streamed Group, Most streamed Asian Act, and 7th Most streamed Artist on all Audio Streaming Platforms!
On Spotify alone, they surpassed 50 BILLION streams, becoming the first group and Asian act in history to achieve this massive milestone! They are also the most streamed group of all time, and 12th artist overall, on the platform!
Over at the UK, Swim is still at #42 on the Official singles charts, the equivalent of Billboard Hot 100. This is the single’s 6th week on the chart.
Arirang is at #17 on the official album chart.
In France, BTS has earned a platinum certification in France with its latest album “Arirang,” extending its record-breaking global run.
According to France’s music certification body SNEP, the group’s fifth LP “Arirang” surpassed 100,000 equivalent sales — including physical sales, downloads and streams — to receive platinum status.
The certification marks BTS’ fourth group album to achieve platinum status in France, following “Map of the Soul: 7,” “Proof” and “Love Yourself: Answer.”
“Arirang” reached the milestone in just over a month after release, setting the group’s fastest certification in the country. The album had previously been certified gold within six days of its release, highlighting its strong early performance.
