Foreign tourists who visited Seoul last month and their card spending rose sharply from a year earlier.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 31st, 1.56 million foreign tourists visited Seoul in April. That was up 18.8% from 1.3 million in the same month last year. Cumulative visitors from January to April this year also reached 5.2 million, up 21.4% from 4.28 million last year.
As the number of tourists grew, so did spending. Card spending by foreign tourists who visited Seoul last month was 1.1532 trillion won, up 50.5% from the same month last year. Of the nationwide foreign card spending of 1.9992 trillion won during the same period, excluding online spending (397.4 billion won), 72.3% was spent in Seoul.
By sector, spending at large shopping malls was 245.2 billion won, up 62.5% from a year earlier. Medical tourism spending was 192.1 billion won, up 59.2%, and the beauty sector also rose 35%. By industry, shopping accounted for the largest share at 45.4% of total spending. Wellness (a portmanteau of well-being, happiness and health) followed at 24.8%, food and beverage at 13.1%, and lodging at 11%.
By district, spending was highest in Gangnam District at 29.1%. It was followed by Jung District at 27.5%, Mapo District at 7.4%, Seocho District at 6.5%, and Jongno District at 5.5%.
By country last month, China had 440,000 visitors, Japan 230,000, Taiwan 150,000, the United States 130,000, and the Philippines 60,000, it was found. In particular, tourists from Taiwan increased 34.4% from the same period last year. Chinese tourists were up 12.6% from April 2019, before COVID-19.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is pushing "Seoul Tourism 3·3·7·7," which aims for 30 million inbound tourists, 3 million won in per capita expenditure, a seven-day stay, and a 70% revisit rate as its tourism policy vision.
To meet the targets, it plans to carry out tailored marketing that fits tourists' preferences and improve services such as multilingual support and payment systems. In the second half, seasonal events such as the Seoul Barbecue Festival, Seoul Gourmet Week, Seoul Autumn Festival, and Winter Festival are also slated to be held.
Kim Myeong-ju, director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, "The 1.56 million foreign visitors to Seoul in April and the surpassing of 1 trillion won in tourism spending prove the clear growth of Seoul tourism," adding, "By advancing Seoul's unique high value-added tourism content such as K-culture, gastronomy, and medical and beauty, along with convenient tourism services, we will bring forward the 'era of 30 million inbound tourists.'"