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Foreigners, locals are traveling beyond greater Seoul area, gov't data shows

Published: 14 Apr. 2026, 16:25 Updated: 14 Apr. 2026, 18:13

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Visitors are seen in the streets of Myeongdong in central Seoul in February. [NEWS1]

Traveling in Korea doesn’t equal traveling in Seoul anymore, according to the latest data revealed by the government.

A total of 853,905 foreign nationals entered Korea via regional airports — those other than the nation’s main gateways, Incheon International Airport and Seoul-based Gimpo International Airport — nationwide from January to March, a 49.7 percent surge compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday.

The number of individuals who arrived in Korea through seaports during the same period was approximately 335,161, marking a 6.1 percent on-year increase.

Foreign tourists who used rail services reached about 1.69 million in the first quarter of this year, jumping 46.4 percent compared to the first quarter of last year, according to the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail).

Visitors pose for a photograph while riding a train to South Chungcheong in August 2025. [NEWS1]

Foreign visitors also ventured beyond the greater Seoul area. The Korea Culture & Tourism Institute polled 1,300 foreign visitors at airports nationwide for each month from January to March and found that 34.5 percent of them visited places outside the greater Seoul area. The figure increased by 3.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

The total length of stay by foreign visitors — calculated by combining the number of days that individual visitors who used a regional airport stayed in Korea — was 5.28 million days from January to March. That number was 3.88 million during the same period last year.

Foreign visitors’ spending in provincial regions also increased by 17.2 percent on year, from $750 million in the first quarter of last year to $880 million in the first quarter of this year, according to the institute.

The Culture Ministry noted that spending by foreign visitors has become the main driver of regional income. Foreign tourists spend 466.7 billion won ($315.4 million) with their cards during their visits outside the greater Seoul area, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organization.

Local travelers' trips to areas beyond the greater Seoul region also saw on-year growth, tentatively recording 39.31 million cases from January to February, according to the tourism institute. The figure marked a 6.9 percent increase from the same period last year.

People are seen outside the passenger terminal at Busan Port in February. [YONHAP]

Spending by Korean residents traveling outside the greater Seoul area in the first two months of this year was estimated at 5.4 trillion won, or a 3 percent on-year increase.

In February, the government set the tourism industry as a key focus for the economy’s growth. An amendment to the Framework Act on Tourism — which positions meetings on the national tourism strategy under presidential oversight — was passed at the National Assembly the following month.

The Tourism Ministry said that the bill’s passage would lay the foundation for revitalizing non-Seoul regions through tourism.

“It is inspiring to see that tourism, which used to be concentrated in the greater Seoul area, is now spreading nationwide, with data proving the phenomenon,” Kang Jung-won, the chief of the tourism policy office at the ministry, said in a press release.

“The government will make an effort to bolster and sustain regional tourism,” Kang added.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]