"Here to Spend in Korea": Foreign Tourists Swipe 1.15 Trillion Won—Where Did the Money Go?

5.2 Million Visitors in January-April, Up 21.4%
Spending Expands in Medical, Beauty, and Gastronomy Sectors
Tourist Growth Continues Through May's Golden Holiday

The number of foreign tourists visiting Seoul last month increased by nearly 20% compared to the same period last year. During this period, card spending by foreign tourists visiting Seoul also rose by 50%.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on May 31, 1.56 million foreign tourists visited Seoul in April, an 18.8% increase compared to 1.3 million in the same month last year. The accumulated number of visitors from January to April reached 5.2 million, up 21.4% from 4.28 million during the same period last year.

The view of Myeongdong Street in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

A notable change has been the scale of spending by foreign tourists. In April, card spending by foreign tourists visiting Seoul (according to the Korea Tourism Organization) totaled 1.1532 trillion won, a 50.5% increase from last year. This is seen as an indication that Seoul tourism has moved beyond the recovery phase and has entered a period of both qualitative and quantitative growth. Of the total 1.9992 trillion won spent nationwide by foreign tourists during this period, excluding online spending (397.4 billion won), 72.3% was spent in Seoul.

By sector, spending at large shopping malls was 245.2 billion won, up 62.5% year-on-year, while medical tourism spending reached 192.1 billion won, a 59.2% increase. The beauty sector also grew by 35.0%. In terms of industry breakdown, shopping accounted for the largest share at 45.4%, followed by medical and wellness (24.8%), food and beverage (13.1%), and accommodation (11.0%).

By district, the breakdown was as follows: Gangnam-gu 29.1%, Jung-gu 27.5%, Mapo-gu 7.4%, Seocho-gu 6.5%, and Jongno-gu 5.5%. Consumption remains active not only in traditional tourism areas such as Myeongdong and Dongdaemun but also in high-value-added districts like Apgujeong, Cheongdam, and COEX in Gangnam. Furthermore, commercial activity is diversifying to local areas such as Hongdae, Seongsu, and Yeouido.

The nationalities of visitors have also shown balanced growth, fostering a healthy tourism ecosystem. In April, the number of visitors by country was as follows: China (440,000), Japan (230,000), Taiwan (150,000), the United States (130,000), and the Philippines (60,000). From January to April, the cumulative figures were: China 1.53 million, Japan 960,000, Taiwan 560,000, the United States 370,000, and the Philippines 180,000.

The growth in foreign tourists visiting Seoul in April continued into the “golden holiday” in May, which overlapped with Japan’s Golden Week (April 29 to May 6) and China’s Labor Day holiday (May 1 to May 5). From April 29 to May 6, the number of Chinese and Japanese tourists visiting Korea was about 220,000, a 40.7% increase compared to the same period last year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to continue expanding high value-added tourism content to realize the vision of ‘Seoul Tourism 3·3·7·7.’ The ‘Seoul Tourism 3·3·7·7’ initiative aims to attract 30 million inbound tourists, achieve per capita spending of 3 million won, increase average length of stay to 7 days, and reach a revisit rate of 70%. To this end, the government will carry out market-specific, customized marketing reflecting the trend of preference-based spending among individual tourists and will continue to improve tourism infrastructure, including multilingual services and payment systems.

Kim Myungjoo, Director General of Tourism and Sports at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, stated, “The milestone of 1.56 million foreign tourists and over 1 trillion won in tourism spending in April is clear evidence of Seoul’s qualitative and quantitative growth in tourism. We will continue to enhance Seoul’s unique high value-added tourism content—such as K-culture, gourmet cuisine, and medical and beauty services—as well as convenient tourism services to usher in the era of 30 million inbound tourists.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.