Despite a Surge in Inbound Tourists in the First Half of 2024, Tourism Deficit Persists

Inbound tourism to South Korea has shown a clear recovery trend this year. According to the recent brief titled "Inbound and Outbound Tourism in South Korea: First Half of 2024" released by Yanolja Research, the number of foreign visitors to South Korea in the first half of 2024 reached 7,701,407, recovering to 91.2% of the level recorded in the first half of 2019, before the pandemic. This marks an impressive 73.8% increase compared to the first half of 2023, highlighting the rapid rebound of inbound tourism this year.

Analysis by region revealed mixed results. In Asia, key markets such as China, Japan, and Thailand showed slower recovery rates, with the total number of inbound tourists from Asian countries down by 12.7% compared to the first half of 2019.

Conversely, regions such as the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Oceania exceeded their pre-pandemic levels. The number of inbound tourists from the Americas increased by 24.8% compared to the first half of 2019, while Europe, Africa, and Oceania recorded increases of 4.4%, 35.3%, and 22.2%, respectively.

Key countries contributing to this growth include Germany and France, which saw increases of 38.6% and 57.1%, respectively, in the number of visitors to South Korea compared to the first half of 2019. The United States and Australia also demonstrated strong growth, with increases of 26.2% and 42.7%, respectively.

Top 10 Countries for Inbound Tourists in the First Half of 2024

While the number of inbound tourists recovered significantly in the first half of 2024, the average expenditure per inbound tourist dropped to approximately $1,002. This represents a decrease of 37.7% compared to $1,608 in the first half of 2023 and a 18.3% decline from $1,225 in 2019.

As a result, South Korea's tourism revenue for the first half of 2024 totaled around $7.7 billion, reflecting only an 8% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This is equivalent to 74.6% of the tourism revenue recorded in the first half of 2019, despite the sharp rise in the number of inbound tourists. This trend underscores the challenges faced in maximizing the economic impact of the recovering inbound tourism sector.

Trend of Inbound Tourist Numbers and Per Capita Expenditure

In the first half of 2024, 14,023,382 South Koreans traveled abroad, marking a 41.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023 and a recovery to approximately 93.4% of the level recorded in the first half of 2019. Travel to Japan and Vietnam surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with increases of 15.0% and 9.8%, respectively, compared to the first half of 2019. In contrast, outbound travel to Hong Kong declined significantly, dropping by 43.0% from the same period in 2019. Visits to North America also saw notable decreases, with U.S. travel down by 21.6% and Canadian travel down by 40.0%. Similarly, travel to Germany declined by 33.3%. On the other hand, travel to Australia surged, with a 63.1% increase compared to the first half of 2019, reflecting a growing interest in the region among South Korean travelers.

Top 10 Destinations for Outbound South Korean Tourists in the First Half of 2024

The average expenditure per outbound tourist in the first half of 2024 was approximately $934, reflecting a decline of 3.6% compared to the first half of 2019 and 20.8% compared to the same period in 2023.

Despite the decrease in per-person spending, the total outbound tourism expenditure for South Korea in the first half of 2024 reached approximately $13.1 billion, an 11.8% increase from the same period in 2023. This figure has recovered to 93.4% of the record-high spending observed in the first half of 2019.

Trend of Outbound Tourist Numbers and Per Capita Expenditure

The report revealed that South Korea recorded a $5.4 billion tourism deficit in the first half of 2024, continuing a trend of deficits that has persisted since 2001. Furthermore, it highlighted that the share of the tourism deficit in the overall services deficit ranged from 15% to 33% between 2015 and 2023. This proportion has gradually increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 38.7% in the first half of 2024, underscoring the critical nature of South Korea's tourism deficit.

To address this issue, the report emphasized the need for South Korea to further revitalize inbound tourism. It called for a strategic national approach to actively attract foreign visitors while focusing on the development of high-value-added tourism products and services to improve the tourism balance.

This brief suggests that South Korea must strengthen the recovery momentum of inbound tourism and implement concrete strategic efforts to mitigate the tourism deficit caused by the rise in outbound travel.

Share of Tourism Deficit in South Korea's Services Deficit