Gimhae Airport in Gangseo-gu, Busan (Yonhap) The Korea Tourism Organization signed a multilateral agreement Thursday with Korea Airports Corporation, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Loong Air to promote new international routes at Gimhae Airport in Busan.The agreement comes as Chinese carriers open direct routes connecting major Chinese cities with Busan, South Korea's second-largest city by population. China Eastern Airlines launches its Nanjing-Busan route Monday, followed by Loong Air's Hangzhou-Busan service Wednesday. China Southern Airlines is also pushing to open routes linking Guangzhou and Dalian with Busan in the second half of the year.KTO hopes to boost regional tourism across the country's southern provinces through this agreement.Under the agreement, the five organizations will jointly market the new routes, welcome arriving passengers and promote wide-area tour packages.KTO will hold welcome events at the airport's arrival hall timed to coincide with the route launches, offering overseas travelers who present their boarding passes welcome kits produced by Busan-based tourism startups. The partners will also promote UNESCO World Heritage sites and marine tourism in the southeastern region through their websites, social media and in-flight magazines.KTO plans to expand cooperation through familiarization tours for travel agencies and influencers, as well as joint promotional campaigns pairing airfare with tourism content."We plan to support the new routes to settle down. We will activate rural tourism routes so that foreign visitors to Busan can travel to various parts of the southern region and contribute to local economies," said KTO.