Travel card to offer free subway rides
Tourists with Discover Seoul Pass to have unlimited subway access
The pass will allow subway rides to areas where foreign travelers visit most for sightseeing, shopping and lodging.
Foreigners visiting Korea will have unlimited access to Seoul Metro if they purchase the Discover Seoul Pass, starting from December, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
This is the first offer of its kind in the country allowing unlimited subway access.
The Discover Seoul Pass, which allows free admissions to major tourist attractions, can be used for subway access now as well, but the card needs to be recharged and the fare is deducted whenever the card holder takes the subway. But from December, the card will be purchased by the number of days, and the amount of subway use during the period will be limitless.
The pass will be available for Seoul Metro lines 1 to 9 excluding KORAIL-operated sections.
For the new service, heads of the relevant organizations and companies signed an agreement last week. Under the agreement, Seoul Metro will provide the infrastructure; the Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) will develop and sell tour programs using the pass; Seoul neo-SmartCard will be in charge of developing mobile card products and card reader systems; and Eastar Jet will introduce the Discover Seoul Pass to its customers when selling flight tickets.
The Discover Seoul Pass has three types — available for 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours — and it can be used in the form of either card or mobile application. Customers can easily purchase the pass at around 400 locations both on and offline, which includes tourist information centers, convenience stores and Hana Bank at Incheon International Airport, as well as hotels and tourism websites.
On top of the unlimited metro access, the pass also allows free admission to 52 tourist and cultural facilities and provides discounts at 40 destinations within the capital.
The move comes as there have been successful cases overseas, providing unlimited subway rides in several key cities around the world including New York, London, Tokyo and Taipei.
Demand for the pass has been high in Seoul as well. According to a survey conducted of 507 foreigners by the STO last December, 48.1 percent of the respondents picked “free public transportation” as the function that needs to be included in the Discover Seoul Pass.
Over 83 percent of the participants also said they would be willing to pay a higher price to include the unlimited subway access option in the pass.
Seoul Metro is also looking into ways to offer more options to customers, by allowing them to choose from one to five days and expanding the available subway sections and the number of attractions they can access.
“The pass will allow subway rides to areas where foreign travelers visit most for sightseeing, shopping and lodging, so we believe it will facilitate their trips,” Seoul Metro CEO Kim Tae-ho said. “We expect the free subway pass to bring a new paradigm to tourism in Seoul, and to further boost tourism with marketing linked to the shopping, lodging, duty free and airline industries.”