The Illusion of 6 Trillion Won in Culture and Tourism Spending... Tourism Was the Real Winner

Korea Culture & Tourism Institute Releases 'August 2026 Monthly Trends Report'
Credit Card Spending Reaches 6.056 Trillion Won in July, Up 7.4%
Tourism Rises 8.2% While Culture & Arts, Content Decline
Service Sector Production Down 7.7%, Employment Down 0.4%
Institute Says "Spending Concentrated on Tourism"

In July, credit card spending in the culture, sports, and tourism sectors exceeded 6 trillion won, up 7.4% from a year earlier. By sector, spending on tourism saw an increase, while culture & arts and content both declined. Production and employment in the culture, sports, and tourism service industries also fell compared to the same month last year.

Tourists are taking photos and making memories on Myeongdong Street in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the 'August 2026 Monthly Trends in Culture, Sports and Tourism' report by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, credit card expenditures in these sectors totaled 6.056 trillion won in July, a 7.4% increase from the same period a year before. This accounted for 10.7% of all credit card spending. For the same period, total card spending grew 11.1%, which is 3.7 percentage points higher than the growth rate in the culture, sports, and tourism sectors.

This statistic is calculated by taking estimated domestic spending by Korean nationals (adjusted by market share based on individual spending with Shinhan Card) and adding transactions approved domestically by five major international card companies: VISA, MasterCard, American Express (AMX), JCB, and UnionPay. Non-consumer spending such as national taxes, utility fees, and insurance, as well as online sectors such as e-commerce and payment agencies, are excluded.

Changes by sector showed a mixed pattern. Credit card expenditure in the tourism sector stood at 5.7136 trillion won, up 8.2% year-on-year. Spending on culture and arts fell 7.0% to 260.8 billion won, and content spending dropped 6.4% to 398 billion won. Since there are overlapping business categories among culture & arts, tourism, and content, the total amounts from these three sectors cannot be simply combined.

Differences were also seen among detailed business categories. Credit card spending at airlines grew by 19.4%, and at tourism accommodation businesses by 15.4% compared to last year. Travel agencies and duty-free shops also saw increases of 7.7% and 5.4%, respectively. By contrast, spending on books declined 14.4%, while theaters and performance venues dropped 13.4%. Karaoke rooms (-4.1%), PC rooms (-3.7%), and leisure sports (-2.5%) also experienced declines in expenditure compared to a year ago.

Demand for tourism continued to rise. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, from January to July this year, the number of foreign visitors to Korea reached 12.8 million, up 21.3% year-on-year. During the same period, foreigners' domestic credit card spending totaled 12.0859 trillion won, a 48.3% increase. However, the monthly trend data for credit card expenditures and the statistics for foreign tourist spending differ in both coverage and calculation methods, making direct comparison of these numbers impossible.

In July 2026, credit card spending on culture, sports, and tourism increased by 7.4% compared to the same month last year. By sector, tourism spending rose by 8.2%, while culture and arts (-7.0%) and content (-6.4%) declined, showing mixed trends.

Unlike spending, production in the service sector decreased. The overall service industry production index in July increased by 3.5% compared to a year earlier, but the production index for culture, sports, and tourism-related service industries dropped 7.7%. Cultural services fell by 16.7%, while advertising/design services (-10.5%), broadcasting/media (-7.7%), cultural/recreational goods (-7.5%), and sports (-5.4%) all decreased. Leisure and entertainment increased 4.9%, whereas tourism travel decreased 0.6%.

Employment trends also varied by business category. In July, the total number of employees at businesses was 20.718 million, an increase of 1.1% over the previous year. However, those employed in the nine culture, sports, and tourism-related sectors totaled 1.072 million, a 0.4% decline. Airline transport employment increased 7.5% and accommodation grew by 3.3%. Meanwhile, sports and entertainment dropped 3.9%, broadcasting 0.9%, video and audio 0.8%, and publishing 0.2%.

A different trend was observed online. In July, the value of online shopping transactions in the culture, sports, and tourism sectors reached 3.9835 trillion won, up 2.7% from a year earlier. Travel and transportation services increased by 4.0% to 3.1695 trillion won, while culture and leisure services rose 3.8% to 342.5 billion won. Sports and leisure goods, on the other hand, decreased by 6.0%. For January to July this year, the combined online sales of culture and leisure services grew by 11.9% year-on-year.

Prices also rose. The overall consumer price index in July was up 2.8% year-on-year, while the consumer price index for culture, sports, and tourism rose 4.5%. Tourism and travel-related prices soared 12.6%, posting the highest growth among the eight detailed categories. Broadcasting and media rose 10.6%, publishing 3.7%, and arts supplies 3.3%.

Cha Yerin, a researcher at the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, explained, "Based on credit card expenditures, tourism continues to recover among the culture, arts, and content sectors, whereas culture and arts and content are showing a year-on-year downturn. This is not just a one-off this month but part of a broader trend where spending is concentrated in tourism. Since COVID-19, tourism-related industries have shown continuous growth, and with both inbound and outbound tourists increasing, strong domestic tourism demand in July and August reflects seasonal factors as well."

Regarding card spending on culture, arts, and content, Cha noted that it is important to consider online consumption together. "The card spending in the monthly report almost entirely reflects offline spending, with online spending not included," Cha said. "For instance, books are not purchased offline as much as in the past, so it is important to separately track online and offline trends."

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