Americans top South Korean tourists, Chinese drop to 5th = Korean coverage

Looking at the number of foreigners who visited South Korea during the month of June this year by nationality, △ 55,444 Americans, △ 16,822 Thai's, △ 15,239 Filipinos, △ 12,884 Vietnamese, △ 12,741 Chinese people. This was followed by △Singapore with 10,462, △Indonesia with 8,265, △Japan with 5,855, △Russia with 4,400, and △Malaysia with 3,415.

Countries with higher growth rates compared to June last year are Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan, forming the "Big 5". Tourists heading to South Korea from all regions increased, with an average growth rate of 196%, but only China saw a drop.

Comparing the figures for the month of June over the past four years, the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea is △ 1,476,218 in 2019, △ 36,938 in 2020, and △ 77,029 in 2021, △ 2022 was 227,713 people. Compared to pre-COVID-19, the recovery rate is 15.4%.

The number of South Koreans who traveled abroad during the month of June was △ 2,495,798 in 2019, △ 48,353 in 2020, △ 79,446 in 2021, and △ 412,798 in 2022. Compared to pre-COVID-19, the recovery rate is 16.5%.

While some countries have provided cash support for more than 50% of the loss amount to the tourism industry, which was hit hardest by the COVID-19 virus infection, the tourism industry, which is directly linked to the national brand, still remains in a state of turmoil. Despite this, the Yoon Seo-gyul government and South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-kyun have no better points than the Moon Jae-in government, and the industry is pointing out that they are incompetent. It is a well-known fact that it is widespread in the industry.