Fried chicken emerged as the most popular menu item among foreign tourists visiting Korea last year. (Image courtesy of Creatrip)
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – CreateTrip, a platform catering to inbound travelers in South Korea, announced on February 21 that fried chicken emerged as the most popular menu item among foreign tourists visiting Korea last year, based on an analysis of dining transaction data.
According to CreateTrip, fried chicken led the transaction count among all dining options, drawing unanimous favor across various nationalities. The company suggests that the dish’s accessibility through online delivery orders and its widespread availability in physical stores, regardless of language barriers, contributed to its popularity.
Among travelers from the Chinese-speaking regions, soy sauce marinated crab, Korean barbecue, and street food were particularly favored. The transaction data showed that these visitors accounted for 87% of soy sauce marinated crab purchases, while 77% and 60% of transactions for Korean barbecue and street food, respectively, were made by this group.
Japanese tourists showed a preference for traditional Korean set menus, with their transactions constituting 80% of the total in this category.
Western and Singaporean visitors, on the other hand, leaned towards desserts. Bingsu, a shaved ice dessert, managed to secure a spot in the top three most popular items based on transaction counts among these groups, followed by snacks like toast and doughnuts.
CreateTrip reported a significant increase in the dining category’s transaction volume last year, with the number of transactions growing elevenfold and the transaction value increasing by fifty-seven times compared to 2019.
The largest share of transactions came from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Western countries, and Singapore, in that order, with Taiwan alone accounting for about 50% of the total.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
