Southern port city starts multilingual menu board service in 50 restaurants to attract foreign customers

[Courtesy of Busan City]

SEOUL -- To attract more foreign customers, the southern port city of Busan started a smart menu board service that provides translated versions of restaurant menu boards. The price and name of menus are shown in four languages -- English, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. Visitors can order food by simply scanning QR codes printed on menu boards.

According to Busan Tourism Organization, about 2.7 million foreign tourists visited the port city in 2019, before the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit South Korea. Some 290,000 foreign tourists visited the city in 2020 and they were mostly people who live in other South Korean cities. As of 2021, the number of registered foreigners in Busan was about 39,000.

Busan said in a statement on January 6 that the menu translation service was provided to some 50 restaurants in famous tourist spots. Using a smartphone, tourists can also order food online and make reservations for designated restaurants. Discount benefits will be provided for making online payments. "We predict that the number of foreign visitors to Busan will increase annually by 78 percent," Busan Tourism Organization official Cho Man-gil told Aju Business Daily.

Kim Joo-heon jhkim123@ajunews.com

​Southern port city starts multilingual menu board service in 50 restaurants to attract foreign customers

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Southern port city starts multilingual menu board service in 50 restaurants to attract foreign customers