Seoul draws record 1.61 mil. foreign tourists in July

Seoul has set a new record with 1.61 million foreign tourists in July, marking a significant 20.8 percent increase from the same month last year and a 5.2 percent rise from June. This surge in tourism has led to an unprecedented surge in spending by overseas visitors, with total expenditures surpassing 1.07 trillion won ($773 million) through credit card transactions, a staggering 69.7 percent increase compared to July 2022.

The consistent growth in monthly card spending by foreign tourists has now topped 1 trillion won for four consecutive months since April, with the first seven months of the year seeing a 58.7 percent increase in total spending compared to the previous year. This growth trend has outpaced the 21.3 percent rise in visitor numbers during the same period, indicating that tourists are not only arriving in greater numbers but also spending more, with shopping accounting for 46.4 percent of the total expenditure, followed by medical and wellness services at 24.4 percent and food and beverages at 13.1 percent.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.