Especially accommodations are a step below... Chinese tourists say "Tokyo travel is better than Seoul"

Cited for Facility, Service, and Hygiene Complaints
Chinese Tourists Account for 28% of Foreign Visitors to Korea
"Improving Accommodation Quality Needed to Enhance Global Competitiveness"

Myeongdong Street, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Among foreign tourists who visited Korea last year, Chinese tourists accounted for the largest proportion, while a survey revealed that the satisfaction level of Chinese tourists with their trip to Korea was lower compared to Japan. There are calls for urgent measures to improve satisfaction.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization on the 4th, the number of foreign tourists who visited Korea last year was recorded at 16.37 million. Among them, the largest market was China, with 4.6 million (28%) visiting Korea. This is more than 1 million higher than the second-ranked Japan (3.22 million).

However, a recent survey showed that the satisfaction of Chinese travelers who used accommodations in Seoul was lower compared to Tokyo, Japan. According to the report titled "Comparison of Accommodation Experience Differences between Seoul and Tokyo through Chinese Tourist Review Evaluations" released by the travel research center Yanolja Research on the 4th, an analysis of Trip.com accommodation reviews by Chinese tourists showed that the average rating of Seoul accommodations (on a 5-point scale) was 4.31, which is 0.17 points lower than Tokyo's 4.48.

By grade, Tokyo's evaluation scores were higher across all grades. Seoul's 3-star accommodations received similar ratings to Tokyo's 2-star and below accommodations, Seoul's 4-star accommodations were comparable to Tokyo's 3-star accommodations, and Seoul's 5-star accommodations were similar to Tokyo's 4-star accommodations. This indicates that Chinese tourists rate Seoul accommodations one grade lower than Tokyo accommodations.

The city center as seen from Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The areas with negative reviews for Seoul accommodations were 'facilities,' 'service,' and 'hygiene.' In particular, facility-related complaints included inability to control temperature due to central heating and cooling, inconvenience of shared restrooms, broken facilities, and small room sizes. Negative reviews outnumbered positive ones, indicating this is the most urgent area for improvement.

In the service category, major complaints included communication issues, lack of luggage storage services, and absence of front desk staff. In the hygiene category, there were many complaints related to basic cleanliness such as unclean bedding. Yanolja Research predicted that improving accommodation quality would positively affect Chinese tourists' satisfaction and their intention to revisit.

Yanolja Research suggested that to address these issues, inspection and repair of broken facilities are necessary. They analyzed that systematizing multilingual communication manuals and introducing self check-in systems would be effective. They also emphasized the need to strengthen basic hygiene management within accommodations, such as dealing with hair, stains, and mold. Senior Researcher An Ye-jin of Yanolja Research said, "For Seoul's accommodation industry to strengthen its competitiveness in the global market, it is necessary to provide accommodations designed and operated with guests at the center, beyond simple facility improvements, to differentiate services and experiences." She added, "Through this, Seoul can realize sustainable growth of the tourism industry based on high-quality accommodation experiences."