Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, is crowded with people on July 2, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Japanese topped the list of inbound travelers to South Korea in the first five months of this year, data showed Sunday.
A total of 665,611 Japanese nationals visited South Korea between January and May, accounting for 19.2 percent of total inbound travelers to the country, according to data compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
It marked a dramatic hike from 11,425 during the same period of 2022, when Japanese tourists accounted for only 2 percent of the inbound travelers to South Korea.
By gender, 34.2 percent of Japanese travelers were men and 65.7 percent were women, except for flight attendants, during the first five months of this year.
In particular, females aged between 21 and 30 came to 183,000, accounting for 27.6 percent of total travelers.
“Women aged below 30, who lead the fourth wave of hallyu, took up a considerable amount of inbound travelers. … They have been affected by hallyu since the pandemic, and they seem to be visiting South Korea after the pandemic,” a KTO official said, referring to the Korean wave of pop culture.
Meanwhile, 2.58 million South Koreans visited Japan between January and May, accounting for 29.9 percent of total inbound travelers to Japan, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
(Yonhap)
