3.87 Million Inbound Tourists Visit Korea in Q1, Surpassing Pre-COVID Levels

The number of inbound tourists to Korea in the first quarter of this year reached 3,870,247, marking a 13.7% increase compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of last year, the number of inbound tourists to Korea was 3,402,873.

The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 30th that the number of inbound tourists in March reached 1,614,596. This represents an 8.2% increase compared to March of last year, when the figure was 1,491,596.

On the 24th, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday including a temporary public holiday, travelers visiting Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport were lining up to move to the boarding concourse. Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that during the special traffic control period for this Lunar New Year holiday, from the 24th to the 2nd of next month, a total of 2,141,000 passengers are expected to use Incheon Airport, averaging 214,000 passengers per day. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Cumulatively, by March of this year, the number of inbound tourists exceeded 3.87 million, fully recovering to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. In the first quarter of 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of inbound tourists was 3,842,246. In 2019, the annual number of inbound tourists reached a record high of 17.5 million. If the current trend continues, it is possible that the annual number of inbound tourists could reach a new all-time high.

The country with the highest number of visitors to Korea in the first quarter of this year was China, with 1,122,169 visitors. The number of Chinese tourists increased by 10.5% compared to the same period last year.

This was followed by Japan (782,511), Taiwan (395,466), the United States (278,824), Vietnam (129,109), the Philippines (125,402), and Hong Kong (118,578). The number of tourists from Japan, Taiwan, and the United States increased by 17.5%, 29.3%, and 14.1%, respectively, compared to the same month last year.

The number of outbound Korean tourists in March, which represents the number of Koreans traveling abroad, was 2,197,971, a 2.6% increase compared to the same month last year (2,141,992). In the first quarter, the number of outbound Korean tourists was 7,796,521, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year.