Koreans Spend Billions Abroad Each Month, Tourism Deficit Persists
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
South Korea faces a growing tourism deficit driven largely by strong outbound travel. From January to October, 2–3 million Koreans traveled abroad each month, spending on average about 1.47 million won (approx. $1,000) per person — roughly 3 trillion won leaving the country monthly. Popular destinations included Japan (7.66 million visits) and Vietnam (5.88 million). Despite inflation and higher fuel surcharges, travel demand remains resilient and per-person spending has risen, prolonging the deficit. Domestic travel is less popular and less lucrative due to higher costs, limited content, and regional concentration; surveyed satisfaction scores averaged 8.3 for domestic trips versus 8.7 for overseas, and domestic spending was about one-third of overseas levels. Inbound tourism is also shifting toward low-spending independent travelers (FIT) rather than high-spending group tourists, and the MICE (business events) market underperformed expectations. Chinese visitor spending has not fully recovered, adding concern. Industry groups call for policies to boost actual tourism spending — such as leveraging K-content, targeted regional support, and reconsidering the departure levy (출국세) — rather than focusing solely on visitor counts.
