FOREIGN TOURISTS TO SOUTH KOREA JUMP 17 PCT IN NOVEMBER, CLOSE TO RECORD 20 MLN FOR 2025

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Bernama-Yonhap) --  The number of foreign visitors to South Korea rose sharply in November, climbing 17.3 per cent from a year earlier as the country's tourism sector continues to recover to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed Tuesday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

According to figures from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), about 1.6 million foreign tourists visited in November, up from 1.36 million a year ago and 9.6 per cent higher than the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

China remained the largest source of visitors with 378,000 arrivals, followed by Japan at 363,000, Taiwan at 158,000, the United States at 133,000 and the Philippines at 60,000.

While the number of Chinese tourists recovered to around 75 per cent of 2019 levels, Japanese tourist arrivals surged 40.4 per cent compared with the same period that year.

From January to November, South Korea welcomed 17.42 million foreign tourists, a 15.4 per cent increase from the same period last year and 8.6 per cent above 2019 levels, the KTO said. Visitors from China accounted for 29.2 per cent, or about 5.09 million, of the total.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism projected the annual number of foreign visitors to surpass 18.7 million this year, setting a new all-time high and nearing the symbolic 20 million mark. The previous record was 17.5 million set in 2019, just before the pandemic.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP