The so-called "K-delivery" culture of using food delivery apps is becoming a new travel activity among foreign tourists visiting Korea. As the culture of ordering chicken and late-night snacks from accommodations spreads, delivery orders have grown more than fourfold in a year.
According to Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin (Baedal Minjok), food delivery orders placed through the Baemin app using overseas-issued credit cards and global mobile payment services such as WeChat Pay, Alipay, and Apple Pay rose 331 percent in the first half of this year (January to June) compared with the same period last year. Order value also increased 308 percent, marking more than fourfold growth in both categories.
As the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea surpassed 10 million in the first half of this year, cases of foreigners using delivery apps during their trips to Korea also grew rapidly.
Baemin is the only platform among Korea's domestic delivery apps that supports overseas credit cards and global mobile payments. In addition, it significantly improved convenience for foreign users by introducing multilingual services in English, Chinese, and Japanese in February.
This shift became more pronounced from April, when the spring peak tourism season coincided with the easing of regulations on issuing multiple-entry visas for Chinese nationals. Woowa Brothers explained that the number of foreign orders on Baemin rose 22 percent in April from the previous month, marking the start of full-fledged growth.
The menu item most sought after by foreign tourists was chicken. Chicken orders in the first half of this year rose 281 percent from the same period last year, accounting for the largest share. Cafe and dessert orders followed at 298 percent, and fast food at 292 percent.
In terms of growth rate alone, late-night snack orders grew the most steeply. Orders in the late-night snack category rose 520 percent, Chinese food 433 percent, and Asian food 401 percent.
"There is a clear tendency for foreigners who finish sightseeing during the day to order late-night snacks from their accommodations late at night, directly experiencing Korea's distinctive late-night snack culture," Woowa Brothers said. "Delivery apps are becoming a channel for experiencing Korea's late-night snack culture."
Behind the rise in delivery use lies a change in travel patterns. As trips to Korea, once centered on group tourism, have been reshaped around free independent travel (FIT), preferences for living like locals have grown stronger.
In the Korea Tourism Organization's survey of foreign tourists last year, the share of independent travel reached 80.1 percent, while group tourism stood at just 11.5 percent. As a travel culture in which transportation, payment, and food ordering are all handled with a single smartphone takes hold, analysts say the use of delivery apps is naturally increasing.
The delivery industry views foreign tourists as a new customer segment and is expanding services. While Baemin leads the market with its multilingual services and support for overseas payments, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo are also operating English-language apps to capture foreign demand.
