{
  "id": 12278389,
  "title": "Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22 pct through August",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-pct-through-august",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-06T02:08:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yonhap News",
    "slug": "yonhap-news",
    "url": "https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20261006003800315"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nCredit 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.\n\nThe 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%).\n\nShopping 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.",
  "summary": "SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- The number of foreign visitors to Seoul in the first e...",
  "key_points": [
    "Foreign tourist numbers in Seoul increased by 22% through August.",
    "Credit card spending by visitors rose nearly 60% year-over-year.",
    "China, Japan, and Taiwan accounted for 66.4% of August visitors."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The surge in foreign tourists to Seoul, marked by a 22% increase through August, signals a strong recovery in the city's tourism industry, with significant gains in credit card spending across key sectors.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}