In the first half of this year, the number of foreign tourists who visited Korea is estimated to have exceeded 10 million.
This is the first time the number of foreigners visiting Korea has surpassed 10 million on a half-year basis. Last year, it did not reach 10 million until mid-July.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 24th, the number of foreigners visiting Korea through the third week of this month was provisionally tallied at more than 1.28 million, bringing the cumulative total for the year to over 10 million.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea last month was tallied at about 1.95 million, up 19.4% from the same period a year earlier.
By major region, China had the most with 560,000, followed by Japan with 360,000, the Americas with 210,000, and Taiwan with 190,000.
Through last month, the cumulative number of foreigners visiting Korea stood at about 8.72 million, of which 2.56 million (29.4%) were Chinese tourists.
They were followed by Japan (1.6 million), Taiwan (930,000), the Americas (850,000), and Hong Kong (280,000).
As the number of foreigners visiting Korea increased, more foreigners also entered through local airports.
The number of foreigners entering through local airports, which was about 230,000 in January this year, rose to 360,000 last month.
Foreign tourists' domestic card expenditure (including online spending) reached 2.1 trillion won, surpassing 2 trillion won in a single month for the first time since tracking began in 2018.
With help from the weak won, the number of foreigners visiting Korea is widely expected to increase further. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) projected that the number of foreigners visiting Korea this year will reach about 22 million.