16.37 Million Foreign Tourists Last Year... Recovery to 94% of Pre-COVID Level

Last year, the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea reached 16.37 million, recovering to 94% of the pre-COVID-19 level in 2019 (17.5 million).

According to the Korea Tourism Organization's December 2024 Korea Tourism Statistics released on the 31st, the number of foreign tourists last month was recorded at 1.271 million. Despite political turmoil including martial law and impeachment, this represents a 22.6% increase compared to the same month last year.

Travelers visiting Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the 24th, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday including the temporary public holiday, are lining up to get their tickets. Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that during the special traffic control period for the Lunar New Year holiday, from the 24th to the 2nd of next month, a total of 2,141,000 passengers, averaging 214,000 per day, are expected to use Incheon Airport. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

As a result, the annual number of foreign tourists last year was 16.37 million, a 48.4% increase compared to 2023 (11.03 million). If this recovery trend continues, the number of foreign tourists this year is expected to surpass the record high of 2019. The government has set a target of attracting 18.5 million foreign tourists this year.

By region, Chinese tourists were the largest group with 4.6 million visitors, followed by Japan (3.22 million), Taiwan (1.47 million), the United States (1.32 million), and Hong Kong (570,000).

Last year, the number of South Korean nationals traveling abroad reached 28.69 million, nearly recovering to the 2019 level (28.71 million). This is a 26.3% increase compared to 22.72 million in 2023.

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