{
  "id": 12284923,
  "title": "Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22% through August",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august-12284923",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-06T02:52:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20261006/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Seoul welcomed a record 11.56 million foreign tourists from January to August this year, marking a 21.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the city government on Tuesday. The surge in visitor numbers comes with a significant jump in their credit card spending, which rose nearly 60 percent year-on-year to a total of 7.78 trillion won ($5.8 billion). In August alone, 1.72 million foreigners visited Seoul, a 23.3 percent increase from 1.4 million visitors a year ago.\n\nThe majority of these foreign tourists hailed from China, Japan, and Taiwan, accounting for 66.4 percent of the total. China led the pack with 636,000 visitors, making up 36.9 percent of the total, followed by Japan with 322,000 visitors (18.6 percent) and Taiwan with 188,000 visitors (10.9 percent).\n\nThe city's shopping sector was the largest driver of foreign visitors' credit card spending, accounting for 46.6 percent of the total. Medical and wellness services followed closely behind at 23.8 percent, while food and beverage establishments accounted for 13.2 percent of the spending.",
  "summary": "The number of foreign visitors to Seoul in the first eight months of this year increased by about 22 percent from the same period last year, while their credit card spending in the city surged nearly 60 percent, data from the city government showed Tuesday. Seoul attracted a record 11.56 million foreign tourists in the January-August period, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier, the government…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22% through August",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august",
        "published": "2026-10-06T02:32:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}