Korea Grand Sale Attracts Record 346,000 Foreign Tourists

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 18th that the '2025 Korea Grand Sale' successfully concluded, attracting a record-breaking 346,000 foreign tourists?more than double the number from last year.

The 2025 Korea Grand Sale was held from January 15 to February 28 in collaboration between the Ministry and the Korea Tourism Year Committee.

The Korea Grand Sale is a shopping and cultural tourism festival launched in 2011 to attract foreign tourists and stimulate consumption during the low season for inbound tourism in January and February. This year, a record 1,680 companies participated, offering various discounts and benefits across Korean travel and shopping. Additionally, through new collaborations with various companies, services enhancing shopping convenience for foreigners were expanded in multiple sectors including transportation (discounts on Kakao Mobility taxi calls), dining (discounts and complimentary drinks when reserving restaurants via Catch Table), maps (store information and directions via Naver Maps), and payments (WowPass point refunds and instant discounts with UnionPay).

In the 'K-Travel Promotion,' which involved 10 domestic airlines including Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Eastar Jet, as well as global online travel agencies (OTAs), a total of approximately 346,000 inbound flight tickets were sold. The number of tickets sold increased by 103.6% compared to the previous year. In the tourism product exhibitions featuring accommodations and experiences conducted in collaboration with global OTAs such as Konest and Trip.com, more than 40,000 tourism products were sold, marking a 258% surge from the previous year.

Jang Mi-ran, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is taking a commemorative photo with foreign tourists at the Korea Grand Sale Welcome Center set up in front of the National Theater of Korea Myeongdong Arts Theater in Jung-gu, Seoul on January 15.
Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Yonhap News Agency

The 'K-Shopping Exhibition,' which included major department stores, duty-free shops, large marts, and outlets such as Shilla, Lotte, and Shinsegae, as well as popular brands like CJ Olive Young, Musinsa Standard, and K-Town4U, recorded a total of approximately 185,000 benefit uses. Sales at large marts and outlets increased by 185% and 27%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The number of shopping payment promotion uses exceeded 41,000, a 429% increase from the previous year.

Experience events themed around various K-contents that are highly popular overseas?including K-pop, food, beauty, cultural heritage, and regional culture?became even more diverse this year. The number of program types increased from 12 last year to 19 this year, and participating regions expanded from one to five. As a result, 856 foreigners from 70 countries participated in 19 programs, enjoying the unique charm of 'K-Culture' that can only be experienced in Korea.

The Ministry operated welcome centers in popular tourist areas such as Myeongdong, Hongdae, Seongsu, Gangnam, and Jamsil, with the number of foreign tourists visiting these centers reaching approximately 24,000, a 10% increase from the previous year. The purchase receipt verification event attracted 8,120 foreign tourists, a 24% increase from the previous year, invigorating tourism consumption and local businesses. Additionally, the Ministry operated a 'Special Welcome Booth' at the Gyeongju Hwabaek Convention Center from February 24 to 28, coinciding with the '2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 1st Senior Officials' Meeting,' providing benefits for dining and transportation in the Gyeongju area and promoting Korean tourism and local festival products.

A survey conducted among foreign tourists who visited the welcome centers during the event period showed that 92.5% were 'satisfied' with the '2025 Korea Grand Sale,' and 90.6% expressed their intention to revisit Korea during future Korea Grand Sale periods. These figures represent increases of 1.7 and 1.4 percentage points, respectively, compared to last year.

Kim Jeong-hoon, Head of the Tourism Export Strategy Promotion Team at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "Through this year’s Korea Grand Sale, we attracted more than twice the number of foreign tourists compared to last year, which is the result of strong interest in K-Culture and active public-private cooperation. Moving forward, we will continue to expand attractive tourism content and experiential programs that capture everyday life in Korea in line with changing tourism trends, and we will spare no effort to support inbound tourists so they can enjoy more convenient and satisfying trips."