15.05 Million Foreign Visitors Came to Korea Through August; Tourism Card Spending Tops 14 Trillion Won

[Financial News] More than 15 million foreign tourists visited Korea through August this year. Tourism-related card spending also exceeded 14 trillion won, rising at a faster pace than the number of visitors.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) on the 28th, 15.05 million foreign visitors came to Korea from January through August, up 21.6% from the same period last year. In August alone, 2.25 million visitors arrived, a 23.3% increase from the same month a year earlier.
Both the monthly figure and the cumulative total for January through August reached record highs. The milestone of surpassing 15 million visitors, which was reached in mid-October last year, came as early as August this year.
Foreign tourists' spending on tourism-related card transactions totaled 14.018 trillion won from January through August, up 48.5% from 9.4396 trillion won during the same period last year. The figure includes online spending. The 48.5% increase in card spending was 26.9 percentage points higher than the 21.6% growth in visitor numbers, indicating that payments grew faster than arrivals.
Arrivals through regional airports and ports accounted for 27.8% of the total. The number of visitors arriving through regional airports reached 2.83 million, up 38.2%. This was more than twice the 17.5% growth rate recorded at airports in the Seoul metropolitan area, indicating that arrivals through regional airports are expanding relatively quickly.
By country and region, arrivals from China rose 29.0% to 4.82 million, while those from Japan increased 17.5% to 2.7 million. Visitors from Taiwan reached 1.66 million, up 32.2%. In Southeast Asia, arrivals from Indonesia increased 22.5% to 295,000, while the Philippines and Vietnam also posted double-digit growth.
During the same period, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan and Thailand fell by 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively. Vietnam recorded a 14.4% increase, lower than Korea's 21.6% growth. However, Korea's number of foreign visitors remained smaller than those of the three countries.
Since March 30, the government has eased the requirements for issuing multiple-entry visas to nationals of 11 Southeast Asian countries. Since May 28, it has also been temporarily piloting visa-free entry for Indonesian group tourists.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) operates a support center in New Delhi to help shorten visa processing times and has supported the simplification of screening documents in Manila. It has also promoted the eased visa requirements through local publicity events and social media (SNS).
The MCST and KTO have also conducted local marketing campaigns to turn interest in K-culture into demand for visits to Korea. In Singapore, they held a K-Tourism Roadshow centered on experiencing the daily lives of Koreans, attracting 120,000 people over three days.
They also promoted airfares in collaboration with airlines and online travel agencies. The number of one-way flights from Indonesia to Korea operated from January through August reached 3,974, up 8.8% from a year earlier.
Kang Jeong-won, director general for tourism policy at the MCST, said, "Visitors to Korea are becoming more diverse as entry procedures improve and tailored marketing expands. We expect the strong enthusiasm for visiting Korea to continue through the fourth quarter."
[email protected] Jang In-seo Reporter