Foreign Visitors to Seoul... More Tourists Flocking to DDP, Achasan, and Hongdae

Seoul AI Foundation Analyzes Foreign Tourist Foot Traffic

N Seoul Tower Tops Foreign Visitor Share at 55%

DDP Surges 12%... Achasan and Hongdae Also Rise

Gyeongbokgung Scores 4.7... Seoul Forest Leads in Positive Sentiment

Popular tourist attractions in Seoul among foreign visitors are diversifying, expanding to include traditional markets and hiking spots. While foreigners continue to concentrate on areas like Myeong-dong and N Seoul Tower, the number of visitors to local attractions has also increased significantly.

The Seoul AI Foundation released an analysis of the "2025 Foreign Tourist Foot Traffic Data" for 16 major attractions in Seoul on July 22. The analysis covered tourist foot traffic at 16 locations—including N Seoul Tower, Bukchon Hanok Village, Naksan Park (sites featured in "K-Pop Demon Hunters"), traditional markets (Namdaemun Market and Gwangjang Market), and hiking spots (Bukhansan, Gwanaksan, Bugaksan, and Achasan)—based on foreign visitor data from mobile carrier SKT and Google Maps reviews.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Jung-gu, Seoul. The Asia Business Daily

Myeong-dong recorded the highest average daily foot traffic by foreigners at 100,910 people, followed by N Seoul Tower with 57,370 people, Samseong Station/COEX with 46,813 people, Gangnam Station with 41,210 people, and the area around Hongdae with 40,213 people.

One notable trend is the sharp rise in visitors to local attractions. Year-on-year, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) saw the largest jump in visitors, increasing by 12.1%, followed by Achasan at 11.8%. The areas around Hongdae (10.5%), Naksan Park (10.5%), Gwangjang Market (10.4%), Gyeongbokgung Palace (10.2%), and Gwanaksan (10.0%) also saw significant increases.

Among all foot traffic, the proportion of foreign tourists was highest at N Seoul Tower at 55.7%, with Myeong-dong also nearing half at 47.1%. Namdaemun Market (28%), Samseong Station/COEX (26.4%), and DDP (19.6%) were also locations with relatively high proportions of foreign tourists.

Preferences based on the nationality of foreign visitors were also clear. Historical attractions like Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village saw higher numbers of Southeast Asian travelers, especially from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore. In contrast, shopping destinations like Myeong-dong, Namdaemun Market, and Gwangjang Market had a greater proportion of Japanese and Chinese tourists. The areas of Seoul Forest and Seongsu-dong attracted more visitors from the Americas, while Bukchon Hanok Village was popular among European tourists.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated, "Foreign tourists are not consuming Seoul as a single tourist destination, but rather are seeking various locations according to their individual travel purposes and interests."

The increase in tourists hiking Seoul's major mountain trails is also notable. The analysis found that, among the four mountains located within the city, Bukhansan saw the highest average daily number of foreign tourist hikers at 4,015, followed by Bugaksan (2,169), Gwanaksan (1,192), and Achasan (729).

An analysis of Google Maps reviews left by foreign tourists between 2024 and 2025 indicated overall high satisfaction with Seoul's major attractions. Gyeongbokgung Palace received the highest visitor review score at 4.70, while in AI-based sentiment analysis, Seoul Forest received the highest positive rating at 79.9%. However, the analysis also showed that there is still room for improvement in areas such as foreign language guidance, wayfinding, and visitor amenities.

Kim Manki, President of the Seoul AI Foundation, commented, "This analysis is meaningful in that it examines, through data, which parts of Seoul foreign tourists visit and how they experience the city. We will continue to produce analytical results that track Seoul's changes and support city policy-making and decision-making, based on a variety of data sources going forward."

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