Korea set for record tourist numbers, but complaints are piling up

A Japanese tourist who took a taxi from Myeongdong in central Seoul to Gimpo International Airport was charged 480,000 won ($362), about 16 times the usual fare. With their flight about to leave, the tourist reluctantly paid. They later learned that the fare for the route is usually around 30,000 won and filed a complaint with the authorities. An investigation found that the driver had driven without turning on the meter and entered the fare manually after reaching the destination.

The incident is one of a growing number of complaints from foreign visitors. Korea is on the verge of welcoming 20 million foreign visitors in a single year for the first time, but service on the ground is falling short. 

Foreign arrivals reached 15 million from January to August, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on Tuesday. At this pace, foreign arrivals are expected to exceed 22 million this year. Credit card spending by foreigners over the same period surged 48.5 percent to 14 trillion won.

A total of 2,057 complaints were filed nationwide from January to September, according to the Korea Tourism Data Lab. That is about double the 1,023 complaints filed in all of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, and more than the 1,593 filed last year, when foreign arrivals hit a record high. Accommodations drew the most complaints, followed by shopping, taxis, airports and airlines and restaurants. Complaints are rising in Seoul as well as Busan, Incheon and on Jeju Island.

Overcharging is the most reported problem. A recent U.S. tourist said they received a restaurant bill that included a separate 15,000 won charge for “utensils and side dishes.” Last month, a Chinese tourist claimed they booked a taxi on an app in Seoul and paid automatically, only to have the driver demand payment again on the spot. In other cases, lodging businesses demanded extra fees on confirmed reservations or unilaterally canceled bookings to resell the rooms at higher prices.

There are also alleged incidents of discrimination against foreigners. A Filipino tourist claimed they were turned away from a restaurant one evening after the owner said that the establishment was closed for the night. The tourist said they later saw eight Koreans enter the same restaurant and eat there. 

The survey results also show that tourists are now spending more of their time beyond Korea’s traditional landmarks. According to the Korea Tourism Data Lab’s 2025 survey on international visitors, food tourism was the most popular activity considered before arriving at 61.7 percent, followed by shopping at 57.3 percent and enjoying natural scenery at 35.6 percent. Visits related to K-pop and Korean celebrities rose from 14.2 percent in 2024 to 17.1 percent last year, while visits to palaces and historic sites fell from 24.1 percent to 21.6 percent over the same period.

Unlike major tourist sites, everyday places such as neighborhood shopping alleys often lack sufficient guidance and amenities for foreign tourists.

Public restrooms are a prime example. Seoul had 5,703 public restrooms as of January, more than Tokyo’s roughly 4,200, yet finding a restroom is often cited as a struggle among foreign visitors. Many private restrooms open to the public in alleys are not properly listed on Google Maps. Some are locked with keypad door locks or lack English signs. The difficulty is common enough that an app has been created just to help foreign tourists find restrooms in Seoul.

A tteok (rice cake) shop in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, was crowded with foreign tourists on Monday, with foreign visitors making up about half of a line dozens of people long. With nowhere to sit and eat, customers ate standing on the street and frequently bumped into passersby.

Chawat Thongsingcharoen, a visitor from Thailand, said he enjoyed Korean street food but couldn’t find a trash can and ended up carrying his garbage around for 30 minutes.

Cultural differences also cause inconvenience. Kurd, a visitor from the United Arab Emirates, said that even on his second trip to Korea, finding halal food remained a struggle

Some tourism and cultural facilities need to become more competitive to attract foreign visitors, critics say. The National Museum of Korea drew about 230,000 foreign visitors last year, just 3.5 percent of all visitors. At some of its regional affiliate museums, foreign tourists made up less than 1 percent of visitors. A lack of tailored services for foreign visitors, such as translation, is cited as a key reason.

Calls are growing to focus on the quality of inbound tourism. The rate of foreign tourists returning to Korea is relatively high at 56.5 percent but 8 percentage points lower than Japan’s, according to the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute. The average length of stay for foreign visitors fell 1.3 days from 7.8 days in 2023 to 6.5 days last year, according to data the KTO submitted to Rep. Jung Yeon-wook of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.

“The new phenomenon of foreign tourists consuming and experiencing Koreans’ everyday lives is desirable in that it makes the scope of Korean tourism broader and deeper and revitalizes alleys and local commercial districts,” said Lee Hoon, a professor at Hanyang University’s School of Tourism. “To keep this tourism boom from ending as a one-time trend, the authorities must also back it up with efforts to expand amenities and reduce congestion in places where foreign tourists flock."

BY LIM SUN-YOUNG, CHOI HYUN-JU, KANG BO-HYUN [[email protected]]