South Korea: Tourist arrivals

The latest value from 2020 is 2519 thousand tourists, a decline from 17503 thousand tourists in 2019. In comparison, the world average is 4935 thousand tourists, based on data from 123 countries. Historically, the average for South Korea from 1995 to 2020 is 8280 thousand tourists. The minimum value, 2519 thousand tourists, was reached in 2020 while the maximum of 17503 thousand tourists was recorded in 2019. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

Definition: International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.