Foreign Tourists' Most Searched Services During Their Trip to Korea

Korea Tourism Organization Analyzes 1330 Service Usage Trends
Interpretation (3,583 times) Ranks 1st Again This Year
July Trend Keyword Climate Companion, Up 283% MoM

The service that attracted the most interest from foreign tourists traveling in Korea was found to be 'interpretation.'

On the 11th, four days before Chobok, foreign students participating in the 'International Summer School Chobok Samgyetang Day' held at K-Kitchen Hansang in Hansung University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, gave a thumbs up while eating samgyetang. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization analyzed over 240,000 tourist inquiry data collected through the ‘1330 Tourist Interpretation Guide Service (hereafter 1330)’ and published the ‘1330 Service Usage Trend Analysis Report’ on the 20th.

The most frequently mentioned keyword in the analysis report was ‘interpretation (3,583 times),’ ranking first again in 2024 following 2023. Taxi (3,014 times), Seoul (1,579 times), hotel (1,149 times), and bus (1,023 times) followed.

In the transportation sector, ‘bus’ had the highest number of mentions. Related terms such as public transportation and T-money ranked high. In particular, inquiries about transportation options and how to use transportation cards from major travel hubs like airports and terminals to tourist destinations increased by 25% compared to the same period in 2023, showing that foreign tourists’ travel patterns are becoming more individualized and segmented.

Inquiry data from foreign tourists in the 1330 service usage trend analysis report. [Table = Korea Tourism Organization]

In the shopping sector, ‘tax refund’ ranked first. It increased by 27.5% compared to the same period last year, indicating the need to expand information provision on tax refunds and immediate refund duty-free services. In the festival sector, keywords related to festivals and performances held in various regions such as Daegu and Andong, in addition to major areas like Seoul and Busan, were included in the rankings.

Additionally, the Korea Tourism Organization analyzed 1330 data on a monthly basis and published the report ‘Monthly Tourism Bot,’ which reflects changing tourist interests and travel trends. The trend keyword revealed for the first time from analyzing about 15,000 data entries received in July was ‘Climate Companion (Card).’ The mention of Climate Companion (Card) in July was 111 times, a 283% increase compared to June, with foreign language mentions accounting for 94.3%.

A Korea Tourism Organization official said, "We plan to share the Monthly Tourism Bot and the 1330 Service Usage Trend Analysis Report with local governments, related organizations, and industries to encourage their use in customer-tailored projects and commercialization. Also, we will take measures to ensure that necessary information is provided timely through the Korea Tourism Integrated Marketing Platform ‘VISITKOREA’ operated by the organization."