Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22 pct through August

Seoul experienced a significant surge in foreign tourists during the first eight months of the year, with numbers jumping by 22% compared to the same period last year. According to city government data released on Tuesday, the capital welcomed a record 11.56 million foreign tourists in the January-August period, a 21.6% increase from the previous year.

Credit card spending by these visitors also rose sharply, climbing nearly 60% on-year to 7.78 trillion won (approximately US$5.8 billion). In August alone, 1.72 million foreigners made the trip to Seoul, marking a 23.3% increase from the 1.4 million visitors recorded a year earlier.

The top visitor countries were China, Japan, and Taiwan, which accounted for 66.4% of all foreign tourists in August. China led the pack with 636,000 visitors, comprising 36.9% of the total, followed by Japan with 322,000 (18.6%) and Taiwan with 188,000 (10.9%).

Shopping emerged as the leading sector for foreign visitors' credit card spending, making up 46.6% of total expenditures. Medical and wellness services followed at 23.8%, while food and beverage accounted for 13.2%, and accommodation took up 10.4%. Notably, credit card spending at major shopping malls in Seoul surged 77.5%, while spending on medical tourism and dining rose 64.2% and 59.5% respectively.