The number of foreign tourist arrivals in South Korea recovered to almost 96 percent of pre-pandemic levels last month. The country welcomed 1.42 million international tourists in June, marking a 47.5 percent increase from a year ago, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. In June 2019, South Korea recorded the arrival of 1.48 million foreign tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Notably, tourists from the United States and Taiwan exceeded their pre-pandemic levels by 44 percent and 21.8 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, arrivals from Japan and China reached 91 percent and 84 percent of their pre-pandemic figures.
Chinese tourists remained the top visitors to Korea with 397,000 arrivals in June, followed by Japan with 258,000, the U.S. with 152,000, Taiwan with 144,000, and Hong Kong with 54,000.
In the first half of 2024, South Korea saw a 73.8 percent annual increase in the number of foreign tourists to 7.7 million. The total represents 91 percent of the visitor count during the first six months of 2019. China also led this number with 2.22 million visitors, followed by Japan with 1.43 million, Taiwan with 680,000, and the United States with 640,000.
Read: Japan targets record 35 million foreign visitors in 2024
A total of 134 countries saw an increase in the number of visitors to Korea in the first half, compared to the same period in 2019.
In the first four months of 2024 alone, South Korea saw visitor numbers reaching nearly 89 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Between January and April 2024, South Korea welcomed 4.866 million international tourists, an 86.9 percent increase from the same period in the previous year.
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