"A Short Trip to Korea Isn't Enough; I Want to Live There for a Month"... Foreign Tourists Take Up Hiking and Yoga, Too

Foreign Tourists' Korea Travel Playbook Changes
From Sightseeing at Major Attractions to Everyday Life and Cultural Experiences
Live in Korea for a Month, Learn Yoga, Get Health Checkups and More

The way foreign tourists visit Korea is changing. Interest sparked by Korean popular culture is expanding into travel focused on experiencing everyday life, self-care, and health management.

These changes are also reflected in recent booking and transaction data released by Creatrip, a domestic inbound tourism platform. According to Creatrip on October 24, its annual transaction value in 2025 increased by about 40% from the previous year.

Transaction value for beauty and medical products rose by about 71%, and these categories accounted for about 51% of the total. Skin treatments, vision correction, makeup, and hair care were among the main offerings. The findings suggest that foreign tourists are increasingly visiting Korea not only for sightseeing and shopping but also to use specialized services.

Foreign tourists taking photos on Myeongdong Street in Seoul. Yonhap News Agency

This year, demand has been expanding from medical and beauty services to health and relaxation more broadly. An analysis of Creatrip's transaction data for the first half of 2026 found that total transaction value increased by 34% from the same period a year earlier. Transaction value for dermatology services rose by 411%, while the spa and wellness sector also recorded strong growth. Medical tourism services, including health checkups and visits to Korean medicine clinics and dental clinics, also attracted interest. U.S. tourists accounted for a large share of bookings for health checkups and Korean medicine clinics, while Taiwanese tourists mainly used dermatology and ophthalmology services.

Activities for staying healthy outside hospitals are also gaining popularity. According to Creatrip's booking data from January through September this year, reservations for yoga and Pilates classes nearly tripled from the same period a year earlier. Half of the customers making bookings were tourists from English-speaking countries. Interest has also continued in hiking in Korea's mountains and national parks. About 87% of participants in the "K Trekking Challenge," run in partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization and the Korea National Park Service, were customers from English-speaking countries.

Japanese tourists showed strong interest in restorative wellness services such as jjimjilbangs, saunas, and massages. The total number of bookings for these services increased by about 31% over the same period.

There is also growing demand for longer trips that allow visitors to experience Koreans' way of life firsthand. According to Creatrip, transaction value for products related to "living in Korea for a month" increased by 272% from the same period a year earlier, from January 1 through May 10 this year. These offerings combine Korean-language classes and accommodations with cultural programs such as Korean cooking classes, hanbok experiences, and taekwondo, giving visitors a range of experiences during extended stays.

Traditional cultural experiences are also becoming more participatory. Creatrip's data for January through May this year showed that bookings for traditional accessory-making classes, including norigae and daenggi, increased by about 23% from the same period a year earlier. This appears to reflect demand from visitors who want to make something themselves and take home the finished product, rather than simply wearing hanbok or touring ancient palaces.

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