South Korea welcomed 15.05 million foreign tourists between January and August 2026, up 21.6% year on year. August alone brought a monthly record 2.25 million visitors.
Foreign tourists also made about ?14 trillion in tourism-related card transactions during the first eight months, up 48.5%.
Regional airports and ports accounted for 27.8% of foreign arrivals, suggesting that inbound tourism is spreading beyond the greater Seoul area.
The next useful question is where visitors are actually spending: beauty, fashion, food, convenience stores, delivery and regional destinations.