The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 31st that the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea last month was 1.46 million, which is an increase of 33.4% compared to the same month last year. This figure also represents a 0.3% increase compared to the same month in 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19. This marks the first time since the pandemic that the monthly number of foreign tourists has surpassed the figures of 2019.
The country that brought the most visitors to Korea last month was China, with 423,000 visitors. Following China were Japan with 311,000 visitors, Taiwan with 126,000, and the United States with 110,000. For Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, these numbers represent increases of 23.7%, 22.7%, and 20.8% respectively compared to the same month in 2019. China has recovered to 78% of its 2019 levels.
From January to September this year, the accumulated number of visitors to Korea was 12.14 million, marking an increase of 58.7% from the same period last year and reaching 94% of the 2019 figures for the same period. When broken down by country, the visitors were mainly from China (3.61 million), Japan (2.31 million), Taiwan (1.1 million), and the United States (970,000).
Last month, 2.31 million Koreans traveled abroad, representing a 14.6% increase from the same month last year and 12.8% more than the same month in 2019.
For the period from January to September this year, the accumulated number of overseas departures by Koreans was 21.2 million, which is 96% of the level seen during the same period in 2019.