Compared to the period before COVID-19, there was a 101% increase in foreign tourists visiting Korea, with China being the top market, surpassing recovery in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the US.
(Seoul=News1) Travel specialist reporter Yoon Seulbin: This year, the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea has surpassed the figures from 2019, indicating a smooth start for the inbound market.
According to the tourism statistics published by the Korea Tourism Organization on the 28th, the number of visitors to Korea for the month of January was 1,117,243, recovering to 101% of the 2019 level. This is a 26.8% increase compared to the previous year (880,881).
The market with the highest number of visitors in January was China (364,000), followed by Japan (175,000), Taiwan (135,000), the US (74,000), and Hong Kong (44,000).
The markets of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the US showed increases of 54%, 23.4%, and 18.4% respectively compared to 2019, while the markets of China and Japan recovered to 93% and 85% respectively.
Compared to the previous year, the market with the highest growth was Hong Kong (71.9%), followed by Malaysia (54.8%), Taiwan (44.7%), Indonesia (42.8%), and the Philippines (36.5%).
On the other hand, Thailand recorded the only decline (0.3%) due to entry denials that emerged after the implementation of the Electronic Travel Authorization System (K-ETA).
Meanwhile, the number of Korean tourists traveling overseas in January was 2,972,916, a 7.3% increase compared to the same month last year (2,770,866), and a 2.1% increase compared to 2019.