Foreign tourist arrivals up 21.3% through July, driven by Japanese visitors
Korea welcomed 12.8 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2026, a 21.3 percent increase from 10.56 million during the same period last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday. Japanese travelers were a key driver. Through July, 28 percent of all Japanese people who traveled abroad chose Korea as their destination, the highest share on record and up 3.5…
The Korea Times reports that Korea received 12.8 million foreign tourists through July 2026, marking a 21.3% increase compared to the same period last year when 10.56 million visitors arrived. Japanese tourists played a significant role in this surge, accounting for 28% of all international travelers to Korea, a record high and a 3.5 percentage point increase from the previous year.
Japanese travelers numbered 2.28 million in July, an 18.8% rise, outpacing destinations such as the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Japanese outbound travel overall grew by 4.1% to 8.14 million, while foreign tourist spending on credit and debit cards reached 12.09 trillion won ($8.8 billion), a 48.3% increase from the prior year.
The rise in Japanese visitors is partly attributed to airlines reallocating long-haul capacity to shorter routes, such as Korea, due to high fuel costs, leading to an increase in weekly Korea-Japan flight seats to 349,000, up 2.4% from the end of 2025.
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.
