Skip to main content

[Yanolja Research Brief] Vol.1 Korea Inbound Tourism from Jan to Apr 2024

Korea Welcomes a Surge in International Visitors: Key Highlights from Early 2024

Curious about the latest trends in Korea’s inbound tourism? Here’s a snapshot of what’s driving the excitement-and what’s changing-among international travelers this year.


Record-Breaking Visitor Growth

  • Nearly 4.9 million foreign tourists visited Korea between January and April 2024.
  • This marks an impressive 87% increase over the same period last year, reaching 89% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels.


Diverse Global Appeal

  • Visitors from Asia more than doubled compared to 2023, with countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and India even surpassing their 2019 numbers.
  • Tourists from the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and Africa are also flocking to Korea in greater numbers than ever before.
  • Most major countries, except those affected by international conflicts, sent more visitors than in 2019.


How Travelers Are Arriving

  • 88% of international arrivals came by air, while 12% chose to arrive by sea.
  • Sea arrivals are on the rise, especially from China, thanks to the resumption of cruise travel.


Shifting Spending Patterns

  • Despite the surge in visitor numbers, average spending per tourist has dropped to $1,063-down from $1,286 in 2019 and $1,858 in 2023.
  • The decrease is linked to shorter stays and a higher proportion of leisure travelers compared to business visitors.


Shorter Stays, More Leisure

  • The average length of stay for foreign tourists fell to 6.5 days, nearly two days shorter than last year.
  • Notably, Chinese tourists now stay an average of 6.5 days, down from nearly 14 days in early 2023.
  • Leisure travel is up by 8.4%, while business travel has declined by 3.6%.


Want to see the full breakdown by country and discover more insights? Visit our official website for the complete analysis and the latest updates on Korea’s inbound tourism trends!

Yanolja Research Brief Vol.1

Labels:
Location: Seoul, Korea

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Yanolja Research Insights] Vol.1 Digital Transformation and Globalization Strategy for the South Korean Tourism Industry

The South Korean tourism industry has substantial growth potential, but it still lags behind global counterparts in terms of its contribution to GDP. While tourism globally accounts for 10.3% of GDP, Korea’s tourism contribution is only 2.8%. To achieve similar growth seen in countries like Japan, Korea needs to prioritize digital transformation (DX) in its tourism sector, focusing on rapid adoption of technological innovations. Key Changes and Trends in the Tourism Industry: Automation and Technology Integration : The industry is moving towards automated, contactless services, transforming sectors like airports, hotels, and tourist centers into high-value operations. Growth of Tourism Solutions : Specialized solutions, such as cloud-based management systems, are improving operational efficiency and service quality for hotels and tour companies. Hyper-Personalization : Using big data, tourism services are increasingly tailored to individual preferences, exemplified by servic...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Yanolja Research Insights] Vol.3 Current Status of the Seoul Airbnb Market

  ✨Airbnb Market Trends in Seoul(As of April, 2023) Airbnb hotspots are centered around tourist and commercial areas. Mapo-gu had the highest number of listings and OCC, while Jongno-gu had the highest RevPAR. Airbnb rooms account for 18.7% of Seoul's lodging market in 2022. 📈Post-Pandemic Recovery Number of Bookings: 987,082 (2019) → 404,320 (2021) → 589,993 (2022) Transaction Volume: 237.3 billion KRW (2019) ➔ 78.9 billion KRW (2021; a decrease of -66.8% compared to 2019) ➔ 150.7 billion KRW (2022; an increase of +91.0% compared to the previous year) 🌍Seoul vs. New York vs. London Number of Rooms(As of December 2022): London(106,752) > New York(53,292) > Seoul(17,257) Airbnb market share in the accommodation market: London (41.5%, as of March 2023) > New York (27.4%, as of March 2023) > Seoul (18.7%, average for 2022) In Seoul, multi-unit hosts (operators managing multiple properties) dominate the market. In New York and London, single-unit hosts (operators man...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Yanolja Research Brief] Vol. 2 Inbound & Outbound Tourism S. Korea in the 2024 H1

South Korea’s Tourism in 2024 H1: A Dynamic Recovery with New Opportunities Foreign Visitors Bounce Back Strongly, But Spending Dips The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea surged to over 7.7 million in the first half of 2024, reaching 91.2% of the pre-pandemic peak in 2019-a remarkable 73.8% increase from the same period last year. Notably, tourists from long-distance regions like the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Oceania grew significantly, with countries such as the U.S., Germany, France, and Australia showing impressive gains. However, key Asian markets like China, Japan, and Thailand saw declines, leading to an overall drop in Asian visitors compared to 2019. Despite more visitors, average spending per tourist fell sharply to around $1,000, down 18.3% from 2019. This resulted in only a modest 8.3% increase in total tourism income compared to 2023, still 25.4% below 2019 levels. South Koreans Travel Abroad More, But Spend Less Outbound travel also rebounded strongly, wi...
Post a Comment
Read more