![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c0f8f8cf-4683-4a2f-8a9c-75e624c4ab01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Los Angeles FC forward Son Heung-min, left, leaves the defense behind in the second half against Toluca during the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap<\/p>\n
Sports tourism is emerging as the travel industry\u2019s next big hit in Korea, powered by fandom-driven travel trends, healthier lifestyles and a shift toward trips with a clear purpose.<\/p>\n
Once a niche for die-hard fans, \u201cdirect viewing\u201d trips \u2014 in which travelers build their itinerary around a specific game or athlete \u2014 are now moving into the mainstream. From Gen Z office workers to middle\u2011aged sports lovers, more Koreans are choosing when and where to travel based on game schedules instead of cherry blossoms or shopping districts.<\/p>\n
Travel agencies are racing to catch up. NOL Universe, the country’s largest tour operator, is currently developing five categories of sports\u2011focused products, ranging from European football league packages and U.S. professional sports such as MLB, NBA and NFL, to World Cup, Olympics and Asian Games cheering tours, fan meeting-linked products and motorsports trips.<\/p>\n
The company has already tested the waters with a fan meeting and live game tour built around national basketball team member Lee Hyun\u2011jung in Japan\u2019s B.League early this year, followed by premium products tied to Son Heung\u2011min\u2019s new U.S. Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC and the Korean baseball team Doosan Bears spring camp fan tour in Miyazaki in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not just selling a ticket to a game,\u201d a NOL Universe official said. \u201cWe are designing purpose\u2011driven sports trips that combine fan experiences with local content.\u201d<\/p>\n
Major agencies are also retooling their portfolios. On Hana Tour\u2019s website, searches for the Korean term for \u201cdirect viewing\u201d turn up itineraries centered on matches featuring stars such as Lee Jung\u2011hoo, Kim Hye\u2011sung and Son, whose clubs are clustered in California. The packages pair game days with visits to landmarks like San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Bridge and Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, turning long\u2011haul sports pilgrimages into full\u2011fledged holidays.<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04252e65-5070-4a4d-81c1-79a44004220e.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
San Francisco Giants’ Lee Jung-hoo, left, is tagged out at home by Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing during the sixth inning of a baseball game, April 21, in San Francisco. AP-Yonhap<\/p>\n
\u201cSince cross\u2011border travel resumed in the endemic era, agencies have focused on differentiated products,\u201d a Hana Tour official said. \u201cSports \u2018direct viewing\u2019 is one of the flagship items, and it continues to enjoy steady popularity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boom is not without its risks. Because many products are built around a single star athlete, a change in form, injury or even a coach\u2019s last\u2011minute selection can throw a wrench in carefully planned itineraries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe once operated a package that included watching a famous player\u2019s game, but by coincidence he did not make the squad that day,\u201d a travel industry source said. \u201cSome customers were clearly disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite such uncertainties, the sector is expected to grow and diversify. Industry insiders say demand is expanding from traditional spectator sports such as football and baseball to running, golf and motorsports, as well as overseas marathons where participants are the “main characters\u201d on the course rather than in the stands.<\/p>\n
This shift comes amid Korean authorities’ and local governments\u2019 efforts to use sports to spread tourism benefits more evenly across the country.<\/p>\n
Policy plans now highlight sports content \u2014 K League and Korea Baseball Organization games, walking festivals, trekking routes and cycling \u2014 as tools to encourage frequent, shorter domestic trips and support regional economies. Packages such as K League train\u2011and\u2011stadium days, or baseball\u2011themed city breaks bundled with local food and cultural stops, are being rolled out to turn weekend matches into full regional experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles FC forward Son Heung-min, left, leaves the defense behind in the second half against Toluca during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-424459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}