20 Million Foreign Visitors Era: Shift from Quantity to Quality — Design Where Visitors Stay and What They Experience
Creatrip Team
25 days ago
South Korea is seeing rapid growth in foreign visitors, prompting a shift from focusing on visitor numbers to designing where visitors stay and what they do. In the first half of the year, arrivals via regional airports hit a record 20.7% share (2.38 million), up 42% year-on-year, driven by expanded low-cost carrier routes. Foreign tourist spending rose about 50% to 12.0859 trillion won, with non-capital region spending up 56.9%. However, more arrivals do not always mean longer regional stays: many who land at some regional airports move to the Seoul area. Non-capital accommodations grew 29% over three years, and demand is shifting toward leisure-linked stays (golf, hot springs, water parks) rather than in-room relaxation. Cultural content is proving crucial: K-pop concert weeks and major shows (BTS, Blackpink, Stray Kids) saw huge increases in foreign bookings, and pro baseball games also boost post-game stays. Experts urge linking K-pop, pro baseball, and K-drama IP (intellectual property) to regional tourism — planning routes, transport, and local experiences during content creation so stories create reasons to travel and local authorities create reasons to stay.
