StellarCube joins LG Uplus to develop a Seoul tourism dataset
Capturing the real voice of Seoul tourism through multilingual review sentiment analysis
StellarCube, a specialist in AI and data, is taking part in the 2025 Seoul Tourism Data Development Project with LG Uplus, building a sentiment-based tourism dataset intended to drive qualitative change in Seoul tourism.
The project collects and refines Google Maps visitor review data for major tourist sites and commercial districts in Seoul, in Korean and other languages including reviews by foreign visitors, in order to analyze visitors' experiences and changes in sentiment through data.
StellarCube will use that data to support Seoul's tourism policy and marketing strategy, and to develop an integrated Seoul tourism dataset that allows visitors' experience of the city to be understood more precisely.
Extending global tourism data through multilingual sentiment analysis
The core of the project is securing global tourism data through multilingual review analysis. By combining sentiment analysis with keyword networks across major foreign-language reviews including English, Japanese and Chinese, StellarCube is quantifying changes in visitor perception and sentiment responses to specific places.
During the Seoul cherry blossom season in April 2025 in particular, StellarCube analyzed tourist behavior at four of the city's main cherry blossom sites — Seoul Forest, Yeouido, Seokchon Lake and Namsan. Korean and multilingual review data confirmed that these sites are perceived by domestic and international visitors alike as iconic places in Seoul and as a spring festival. The sentiment analysis found that the cherry blossom festival was a major factor in raising positive emotions among visitors — joy, anticipation and a sense of calm — and that visit rates to nearby commercial districts rose alongside it.
Jinseob Noh, CEO of StellarCube, said: "This dataset is a new attempt to read the whole of Seoul's tourism experience through data — not only tourist sites but also commercial districts, culture and festivals. Sentiment data including foreign-language reviews in particular will be an important asset in strengthening Seoul's competitiveness as a global tourism city."
A collection framework grounded in data protection and public data ethics
StellarCube complies rigorously with Korea's Personal Information Protection Act and related legislation throughout data collection and analysis. Through lawful data collection via official APIs, pseudonymization and de-identification procedures, and security certification frameworks, it ensures that no personal information is included and operates a safe data use framework aligned with public purposes.
Noh said: "The purpose of using this data is not commercial gain but contributing to public policy and the development of the tourism industry. We will work with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to increase the public value of the data."