1.74 Million Inbound Tourists in October... Up 8.7% Year-on-Year

The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 28th that the number of inbound foreign tourists to Korea last month reached 1,739,020, marking an 8.7% increase compared to the same month last year. In October of the previous year, the number of inbound foreign tourists was 1,600,263.

The cumulative number of inbound foreign tourists from January to October this year was 15,821,331, representing a 15.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

On October 9th, the last day of the Chuseok holiday, Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul was bustling with citizens and foreigners.
Photo by Yonhap News

On an annual basis, this year's number of inbound foreign tourists exceeds the record set in 2019 by more than 1.2 million. In 2019, the cumulative number of inbound foreign tourists through October was 14,589,439.

By country, the largest number of inbound tourists in October came from China, with 472,477 visitors, a 20.5% increase from 392,230 in October of the previous year.

This was followed by Japan (316,776 visitors), Taiwan (161,049), the United States (148,951), the Philippines (62,811), and Vietnam (50,483).

The number of outbound Korean tourists in October, representing Koreans traveling abroad, was 2,678,376, a 12.4% increase from 2,382,464 in October of the previous year. The cumulative number of outbound Korean tourists this year was 24,335,383, a 3.2% increase compared to 23,579,157 during the same period last year.