BUSAN — Tourism startups nurtured by the Busan city government and the Busan Tourism Organization are expanding their businesses by deploying QR code-based services at tourist sites and event venues. The companies are verifying the competitiveness of their services based on actual usage data and seeking entry into domestic and overseas tourism markets.
Whatsup Planet has sharply increased its points of contact with foreign visitors through "Whatsup Geoje" and "Whatsup Korea," its QR code-based multilingual guide services, the organization said on Oct. 23. Whatsup Geoje has installed QR codes at about 50 major tourist sites in Geoje, allowing visitors to access travel information, restaurant listings, directions and audio guides without downloading a separate app. The service supports 14 languages.
In the three months after its launch, the service logged 913 QR scans and 2,408 views of detail pages. About 64% of all users were foreign nationals, demonstrating the service's effectiveness in serving overseas visitors. At the 10th World Smart City Expo (WSCE 2026), held last month at BEXCO in Busan, Whatsup Planet discussed adoption of the service with officials from overseas local governments including the Japanese city of Kobe. The company is pursuing global expansion with plans such as "Whatsup Japan," moving beyond domestic bases including Seoul and Gyeongju.
Beyondi, an integrated pet platform company, is spreading a virtuous-cycle model that combines tourism with animal welfare. To mark the second Animal Protection Day, Beyondi is running a "Pet Health Promotion Week" campaign in the Suyeong and Gwangan areas of Busan through its platform "Majung."
The campaign provides microchip implantation for animal registration and premium health checkups for a total of 200 pets. Its entire budget was covered by all proceeds from "Maro's Playground," a pet festival held last month in connection with the Busan Tourism Organization's "Busan Tourism Startup Academy" program.
At that event, which drew about 5,000 visitors, the company operated QR-based smart guides that significantly improved convenience for visitors from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beyondi plans to continue expanding its model linking pet-friendly tourism with animal welfare on that basis.
"Busan's tourism startups are successively proving real usage results and business viability through on-site demonstrations using digital technologies such as QR codes," an official at the organization said. "We will provide close support tailored to each company's growth stage and characteristics to nurture them into innovative tourism companies representing Busan."