Younger... More than One in Three Foreign Tourists Are Youths

Share of Under 30s Last Year 35.6%
Up 8.1%P Compared to 10 Years Ago
France 43.6%·Japan 42.3%·China 38.3%
Popularity of K-Pop, Food, Beauty, Experiencing K-Content While Traveling

More than one in three foreign tourists who visited Korea last year were young people aged 30 or younger.

Due to the popularity of Hallyu such as K-pop, K-food, and K-beauty, the age of tourists is decreasing not only in Asian countries like Japan and China but also worldwide, including France, the UK, Mexico, and Australia.

Foreign tourists visiting Korea experiencing K-Beauty at Beauty Play, the K-Beauty Experience Center operated by the Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute, located in Myeongdong, Jung-gu.
Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

According to the Korea Tourism Organization's Korea Tourism Data Lab on the 11th, among the 11.03 million foreign tourists who visited Korea last year, 3.93 million (35.6%) were aged 30 or younger. Among them, those aged 21-30 accounted for 2.79 million (25.3%), and those 20 or younger were 1.14 million (10.3%).

The numbers for other age groups were 2.27 million (20.6%) for ages 31-40, 1.62 million (14.7%) for ages 41-50, 1.22 million (12.2%) for ages 51-60, and 1.11 million (10.1%) for those 61 and older. The total figure also includes 760,000 crew members.

A foreigner walking in the Seongsu-dong cafe street [Photo by Jo Yongjun]

The proportion of young tourists aged 30 or younger among foreign visitors was only 27.6% ten years ago in 2013. This represents an increase of 8.1 percentage points over the past decade.

By country, the proportion of Japanese tourists aged 30 or younger, who ranked first in visitors to Korea last year, expanded by 15.7 percentage points to 42.3% compared to ten years ago.

Participants of the Denmark and Norway Jamboree are enjoying content on Hiker.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The decrease in the average age of tourists is not a phenomenon limited to Asian countries. Last year, the proportion of French tourists aged 30 or younger was 43.6%, an increase of 15.0 percentage points compared to ten years ago. The UK saw 34.4%, up 13.7 percentage points; Germany 33.9%, up 13.9 points; the Netherlands 32.9%, up 14.1 points; and Italy 27.2%, up 16.0 points.

Additionally, in Latin America, Mexico's proportion of young tourists aged 30 or younger increased by more than 10 percentage points from 26.0% to 36.9% during the same period, and the United States rose from 25.8% to 28.5%.

Furthermore, Australia’s young tourist proportion increased from 26.1% to 35.6%, and New Zealand’s from 28.5% to 30.7%.

[Table] Comparison of the Proportion of Foreign Tourists Under 30 by Country (Unit: %) [Table = Korea Tourism Data Lab]

The expanding influence of Hallyu is cited as the primary reason why young people worldwide, beyond Asia to Europe and the Americas, prefer traveling to Korea.

Tourists Crowded at the K-pop Booth Photo by Yonhap News

According to data released by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute on the 11th, a survey of about 4,000 foreign travelers who visited Korea from October to December last year, the top reason foreign tourists cited for becoming interested in traveling to Korea was ‘after experiencing Hallyu content’ (31.9%).

An industry official explained, "The number of young foreigners visiting Korea to learn Korean idol songs and dances they encountered through YouTube or OTT videos, or to try foods featured in Korean dramas and movies like Parasite and Squid Game, is expected to continue increasing."