How the World Views Travel to Korea: More 'Positive' Than China and Japan

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Amid the halt of international tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, what perceptions do people around the world have about traveling to Korea?

The Korea Tourism Organization analyzed perceptions of 'Korea travel' appearing on social networking services (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, forums, etc.) in Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and 17 major countries over the past three years (January 31, 2018 ? October 31, 2021) to gauge the possibility of an early recovery of international tourism after the end of COVID-19. The results were announced on the Korea Tourism Data Lab.

The total number of mentions (buzz volume) of Korea travel on social and online media in the analyzed countries was 5,278,520. The total engagement?which includes likes, comments, shares, and views?generated by posts was 86,870,719, and the potential impressions based on the number of followers of posts mentioning Korea travel were estimated at 40.7 billion. By country, Japan, Thailand, and the United States accounted for 74% of the total buzz volume about Korea travel, followed by China, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, India, Turkey, and France.

Positive evaluations stood out regarding Korea travel. Sentiment analysis of social data showed that the positive ratio (30.4%) was about twice the negative ratio (14.5%). In particular, compared to travel to Japan and China, although the buzz volume was lower (Japan travel 6.5 million, China travel 6.1 million, Korea travel 5.3 million), the Social Net Promoter Score (SNPS)?calculated by subtracting the negative ratio from the positive ratio?was 15.9, significantly higher than Japan travel (1.9) and China travel (-7.8).

The influence of social influencers was also confirmed as a major means of promoting visits to Korea overseas. An analysis of influencers (30 each, total 300) who posted about Korea travel in Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and seven major countries showed that the buzz volume ratio of influencers compared to total social data was 0.1%. Although the potential impressions ratio based on followers was only 1.4%, the engagement ratio?including likes and comments?was remarkably high at 40.7%.

Jeong Sunhee, head of the Tourism Consulting Team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “This analysis is the first attempt to examine major inbound markets’ trends in 13 languages through social and online media. It provided a glimpse of the active resumption of inbound tourism after the pandemic, and we will continue to conduct meaningful surveys in the future and provide the results to the Korea Tourism Data Lab.”