SEOUL – South Korea's tourism industry is experiencing a remarkable rebound, with a significant increase in foreign visitors. According to the "August Korea Tourism Statistics" released by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on September 30, a total of 1.82 million foreign tourists visited the country in August. This figure marks a 16.4% rise from the same period last year and a 14.8% increase compared to August 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This surge brings the total number of foreign visitors for the first eight months of the year to approximately 12.38 million, an increase of 16.0% year-on-year and 7.9% compared to the same period in 2019. The recovery is particularly strong in key markets, with a notable increase in group tours from China. The government's decision to implement a visa-free entry policy for Chinese tour groups has been a major contributing factor. Starting from September 29, Chinese tour groups of three or more people, organized by designated travel agencies, can enter South Korea without a visa for up to 15 days until June 30 of next year.
China led the inbound tourism market in August with approximately 605,000 visitors, a 4.6% increase from August 2019. It was followed by Japan with 379,000 visitors (a 14.9% increase), Taiwan with 192,000 (a 75.3% increase), and the United States with 102,000 (a 29.1% increase). Visitors from Hong Kong also showed strong recovery, reaching 98.3% of their 2019 levels.
The data indicates a robust recovery across various regions, with a strong 8.2% growth from the Middle East and a 22.3% increase from the Americas and Europe compared to August 2019.
Simultaneously, overseas travel by South Korean nationals is also nearing pre-pandemic levels. Approximately 2.42 million Koreans traveled abroad in August, a 2.7% increase from the previous year. This represents 99.8% of the numbers seen in August 2019. For the January to August period, accumulated overseas travel reached approximately 19.42 million, recovering to 96.7% of the 2019 level. The balanced growth in both inbound and outbound tourism signifies a full-fledged return to normalcy for South Korea's travel industry.
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