The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea surpassed 10 million through the third week of June this year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. This is about a month faster than last year, when the figure topped 10 million in mid-July.
Cumulative visitors from January to May reached 8,716,791, up 21.0% from 7,206,747 in the same period a year earlier. Compared with the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents 125.2% of that level.
For May alone, the number stood at 1,945,809, up 19.4% from 1,629,387 in the same month last year. Compared with May 2019, this marked a recovery to 131.0%.
The increase in spending by foreign tourists was also notable. According to the Korea Tourism Organization's Tourism Data Lab, foreign credit card tourism spending in May totaled 2.1222 trillion won. This was the first time monthly spending exceeded 2 trillion won since related figures began being compiled in January 2018. Compared with 1.2702 trillion won in the same month last year, it rose 67.1%.
Cumulative foreign card spending from January to May reached 7.9845 trillion won, up 47.3% from 5.4211 trillion won in the same period a year earlier. The rate of increase in spending was higher than the rate of increase in visitors.
"Despite the rise in fuel surcharges resulting from the Middle East situation, the total number of foreign visitors to Korea increased 21% year-on-year through May, and surpassed 10 million in mid-June," said Kang Jung-won, head of the ministry's tourism policy office. "We will expand cooperation with the private sector, including K-pop artists and export companies, to promote the appeal of Korean tourism to more foreigners."
