South Korea Tourism Jan-Jun 2025 : Quantitative Growth, Qualitative Stagnation
In the first half of 2025, the number of foreign tourists who visited South Korea hit an all-time high.
Ironically, tourism revenue has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, showing a dual reality for the Korean tourism industry: quantitative growth but qualitative stagnation.
Let's take a closer look at the key trends behind this phenomenon.
📈 Inbound Tourism: Record-High Visitor Numbers
In the first half of 2025, the number of foreign tourists who visited South Korea reached 8.826 million, setting a new all-time high.
This represents a 4.6% increase compared to H1 2019 (pre-COVID) and a 14.6% increase compared to H1 2024.
This indicates that Korea’s tourism industry has fully recovered from the pandemic shock and has entered a genuine growth phase.
💸 Tourism Revenue Still Lagging Behind Despite More Visitors
The issue, however, lies in the gap between the number of visitors and tourism revenue. Although visitor numbers have increased, tourism revenue has actually declined.
In H1 2025, foreign tourists’ average spending per person was USD 1,012, a 17.4% decrease compared to H1 2019.
Consequently, total tourism revenue for H1 2025 fell to USD 8.94 billion, down 13.6% from H1 2019.
In other words, there are more visitors, but they are spending less. This highlights the current state of Korean tourism — strong quantitative growth, but slow recovery of qualitative spending.
✈️ Outbound Tourism Expands, Widening Tourism Deficit
Conversely, Koreans’ overseas travel demand has almost fully returned to pre-pandemic levels in both number of travelers and spending.
In H1 2025, outbound travelers totaled 14.56 million, almost reaching the 15 million seen in H1 2019.
Overseas tourism expenditure also rose to USD 14.14 billion compared to H1 2024, resulting in a tourism balance deficit of USD 5.2 billion in H1 2025.
This underscores the persistent imbalance in Korea’s tourism trade.
🔑 Visa-Free Entry for Chinese Group Tours from September
A key variable for the second half of 2025 will be the return of Chinese group tourists.
As of September 29, 2025, visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists is allowed.
In the past, this segment represented a high-spending core consumer group, so their return is expected to play a crucial role in boosting tourism revenue.
The key question is whether this will lead not just to more visitors, but also to a recovery in qualitative spending structure.
In summary, Korean tourism in H1 2025 showed four key characteristics:
1️⃣ Foreign visitor numbers hit an all-time high.
2️⃣ Tourism revenue still fell short of pre-pandemic levels.
3️⃣ Outbound travel by Koreans increased, deepening the tourism deficit.
4️⃣ Resumption of Chinese group tourism could become a key driver for a rebound in H2.
Ultimately, the main challenge for Korean tourism is to shift from quantitative growth to qualitative growth. Whether the return of Chinese group tourists will serve as this turning point is something worth keeping an eye on.
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