South Korea Foreign Visitors Top 17 Million
The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea through September this year has surpassed 17 million. The figure is close to the total number of visitors recorded for all of last year, making it virtually certain that the previous annual record will be exceeded within this month.According to the
In September 2026, South Korea welcomed over 17 million foreign tourists, surpassing the total number of visitors recorded last year and edging closer to the previous annual record. The Korea Tourism Organization's report released on October 22 indicated that cumulative inbound visitors from January to September this year totaled 17.11 million, a 21.5% increase from 14.08 million visitors during the same period last year.
This figure already accounts for 90.3% of last year's total of 18.94 million visitors. September alone saw 2.06 million foreign tourists, a 21.1% rise year-over-year. Monthly visitor numbers exceeded 2 million on five occasions, including March, April, July, August, and September.
Chinese tourists comprised the largest share at 5.47 million, a 29.2% increase from the previous year. Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong followed with 3.12 million, 1.86 million, and 550,000 visitors respectively. Visitor numbers from the Americas grew by 12.0% to 1.62 million, while those from Europe increased by 20.0% to 1.19 million, suggesting global demand for South Korean travel is expanding.
Tourist spending also rose sharply, with foreign card spending in the tourism sector reaching 15 trillion 94.16 billion won ($11.04 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, marking a 47.7% surge from 10 trillion 79.40 billion won ($7.47 billion) in the same period last year. Regional airports and ports saw a significant influx, with 3.24 million foreign nationals entering through them in September, a 37.4% increase from the same period last year.
Regional ports, including Busan, Jeju, Seogwipo, Yeosu, and Gunsan, saw a 14.5% rise to 1.58 million arrivals.
Kang Jeong-won, Director General for Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attributed this growth to initiatives such as raising awareness of South Korean travel, improving the travel environment, and expanding content offerings. The ministry plans to brief the press soon to share detailed achievements and outline next year's policy direction.
Written by urgent.news from BusinessKorea's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
