South Korea foreign tourism rises to 2.09 million in July

South Korea saw a significant rise in foreign tourism in July, with the number of visitors exceeding 2.09 million. This represents a 20.8% increase compared to the same month last year and reaches 144.6% of the levels recorded in July 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

China remains the largest source market, with 776,639 visitors, a 29% increase from the previous year. Other notable increases were seen from Taiwan, which saw a 30.7% rise, and Japan, which grew by 10.2%. Cumulative data from January to July shows 12.8 million foreign visitors, a 21.3% year-on-year increase.

In contrast, the number of South Korean citizens traveling abroad in July decreased by 0.7% compared to the previous year. The cumulative number of South Koreans traveling overseas from January to July reached 17.38 million, recovering to 98.5% of pre-pandemic levels.