The concentration of foreign visitors in Seoul is deepening, according to newly released data. With the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea expected to hit another record high this year after last year's peak, critics say the overwhelming share of arrivals staying in Seoul underscores the need to revive regional tourism.
Data submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization to Rep. Lim O-kyeong of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, showed on the 19th that about 18.94 million foreign tourists visited the country last year, an all-time high. Broken down by destination, 76.8% went to Seoul, followed by 15.7% to Busan, 9.7% to Jeju, 4.0% to Gangwon and 2.3% to North Gyeongsang Province, figures that point to a clear clustering in the capital.
Spending patterns showed the same pattern. Foreign tourists charged a combined 11.7382 trillion won ($8.4 billion) to their cards in South Korea last year. Of that, 8.3082 trillion won, or 70.8%, was spent in Seoul, compared with 939.6 billion won in Busan, 846.8 billion won in Gyeonggi Province and 823.3 billion won in Incheon.
Lim said her analysis of the data also found a noticeable rise in foreign arrivals through regional airports. Arrivals through the airports in Gimhae, Jeju, Daegu, Cheongju, Yangyang and Muan climbed to 3,166,889 last year from 1,388,447 in 2023, a 2.3-fold increase in two years.
"Rather than stopping at increasing the number of foreign tourists, we need to disperse them to the regions, raise the amount they spend there, and manage those outcomes as a core performance indicator for tourism," Lim said.
Toward 40 Million Foreign Tourists, With Regions at the Center
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's report on inbound tourism trends for January through July 2026, 12,803,042 foreign tourists visited South Korea through July, up 21.3% from the same period a year earlier. Card spending by foreigners rose 48.3% to 12.0859 trillion won from 8.1515 trillion won a year earlier.
The government initially set a target of 23 million visitors this year and pledged to reach 30 million by 2029. With the 23 million goal now coming into view, it plans to expand strategic support in preparation for an era of 40 million visitors.
The keyword of the current administration's tourism policy is the regions. Last month, Kang Jung-won, head of the ministry's Tourism Policy Office, said the government would "develop tourism zones that let foreign visitors travel into the regions by linking cities around regional airports." He added: "We are mapping out tourism routes connecting Gimhae Airport with Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongju, and Daegu Airport with Andong and Gyeongju. By developing regional destinations that Koreans can enjoy alongside foreign visitors, we want tourism to help revive local economies."
Foreign Visitors Say They Want to Come Back
Separately, surveys suggest that foreign tourists who have visited South Korea are highly likely to return. In a survey of 100 foreign tourists using its app and website, conducted in February by the inbound travel platform Creatrip, 79% of respondents said they planned to visit South Korea again within a year. Repeat visitors who had come three or more times in the past three years accounted for 45%.
K-beauty and medical services were the main draw. Asked which offerings they had looked forward to most, respondents pointed to dermatology clinics (22%), hair salons (20%) and makeup services (19%). In a separate satisfaction survey, skin treatments ranked first at 23%.
