By Park Hye Ri and Lee Jihae
Photos = Korea Tourism Organization

The Bangtan Tour, highlighting photo taking at places featured in the music videos and album covers of the K-pop supergroup Bangtan Boys (BTS), has seen rising popularity among foreign visitors to Korea.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on July 1 reported the results of its survey conducted from June 10-24 on eight foreign-language websites promoting tourism in Korea. Polling 22,272 respondents from 137 countries, the study reflected the interest of BTS fans in locations recently made more famous by the group.

The bus stop at Hyangho Beach in the town of Jumunjin-eup in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province, topped the list with 21.8% of the votes. This venue was featured on the cover of the group's 2017 album "You Never Walk Alone."

Dadaepo Beach in Busan ranked second with 12.2% and Metasequoia Road in Damyang-gun County of Jeollanam-do Province third with 12.1%. Coming in fourth was the Line Friends flagship store in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood with 11.8% and fifth was Iryeong Station in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do Province, with 7%.

Je Sang-won, director of the KTO's international smart tourism team, said, "We will promote through social media the places that topped the survey results," adding, "We will also develop a variety of related Korean tourism products."

hrhr@korea.kr