Visa-Free Entry for Chinese Group Tourists Approved... Government Tightens Focus on '30 Million Tourists' Goal

Government Announces "Temporary Permission Starting September 29"

On August 6, the government announced that it would temporarily allow visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists in an effort to boost the tourism industry. With the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea this year expected to surpass the all-time high of 17.5 million recorded in 2019, the government is tightening its efforts to reach its target of 30 million visitors.

The government stated that it held a “Tourism Revitalization Mini Policy Task Force (TF)” meeting at the Government Complex Seoul on August 6, presided over by Prime Minister Kim Minseok. The meeting was attended by officials from relevant ministries and tourism industry experts. They discussed measures to rationalize tourism regulations and strategies to revitalize inbound tourism during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. As part of these rationalization measures, the government decided to allow visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists.

The government announced, “Visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists will be permitted from September 29 of this year to June 30 of next year,” and added, “We have finalized the decision to implement this temporary visa-free policy before China’s National Day holiday (October 1?7).”

The streets of Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, were bustling with citizens and foreign tourists in early April ahead of Japan's Golden Week and China's Labor Day holidays.
Photo by Yonhap News

With the implementation of visa exemption measures for Chinese group tourists, the tourism industry market is expected to reach a new turning point. Chinese tourists account for the largest share (about 28%) of the inbound foreign tourism market to Korea, and the recovery in this segment has been slow. Therefore, this visa exemption measure is highly significant.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea reached a record high of 17.5 million in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the number of foreign tourists was 16.37 million, recovering to about 94% of the 2019 level, and this year, the figure has already surpassed the 2019 level so far.

According to tourism statistics released by the Korea Tourism Organization on July 31, the number of foreign tourists in the first half of this year was 8,825,967, a 14.6% increase compared to the same period last year (7,701,407). This also represents a 4.6% increase compared to the first half of 2019, which had the previous record of 8,439,214. Considering that September and October are typically the peak season and that the number of foreign tourists usually increases in the second half of the year, there is growing expectation that the number of foreign tourists this year could exceed the government’s initial target of 18.5 million and surpass 20 million for the first time ever. In a recent report, Hyundai Research Institute projected that the number of foreign tourists this year would exceed 20 million, expecting a 2.5 percentage point increase in domestic consumption as a result.

The government’s long-term goal is to attract 30 million foreign tourists. At his inauguration ceremony on July 31, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young expressed his commitment to ushering in an era of a 300 trillion won K-culture market and 30 million foreign tourists.

While the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea is at an all-time high, the recovery of the Chinese market has been relatively sluggish. In the first half of this year, the number of Chinese tourists was 2,526,841, a 13.9% increase compared to the first half of last year (2,218,979). If the current trend continues, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea is expected to increase for the fourth consecutive year and recover to the 5 million range. However, this is still about 3 million fewer than the all-time high of 8,067,722 recorded in 2016, just before the THAAD dispute.

The number of Chinese tourists dropped sharply starting in 2017, when China imposed a ban on group tours to Korea in response to the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, effectively halting the entry of Chinese group tourists. In 2020, as COVID-19 spread, the Korean government completely banned the entry of Chinese nationals.

The turning point came in 2023. In March of that year, Korea resumed allowing entry for Chinese tourists, and in August, China abruptly lifted its six-year ban on group tours to Korea.

China went further and announced that it would implement a visa-free policy for nine countries, including Korea, starting in November 2024. This was a measure aimed at revitalizing its sluggish domestic economy. In response, the Korean government held a National Tourism Strategy Meeting at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, in December last year and began considering allowing visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists to stabilize the tourism market. About eight months later, the government announced a concrete implementation plan.

With the visa exemption measure now being implemented for Chinese tourists, whose recovery has been relatively slow, it is expected to benefit not only the tourism industry but also stimulate domestic demand.

The government stated, “With the rapid recovery of the inbound tourism market, the implementation of this visa-free policy is expected to generate additional demand for travel to Korea,” adding, “It is also expected to have tangible effects in revitalizing local economies and boosting domestic demand.”