Data released by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on July 19 showed that 2.34 million Koreans traveled abroad for tourism purposes in May, up 2.4% from April. This marked the first increase in outbound tourism since the beginning of the year.
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A Korean tourist family poses for a photo in the coastal city of Da Nang. |
Japan remained the top destination, attracting about 951,000 Korean visitors, accounting for 40.6% of total outbound tourists. Vietnam ranked second with approximately 278,000 visitors, followed by the U.S. with 100,000, Taiwan (China) with 79,000, Thailand with 64,000, the Philippines with 61,000 and Hong Kong (China) with 59,000.
In the first five months of this year, nearly 4.89 million Koreans visited Japan, equivalent to more than half of the total recorded for the whole of 2025.
Most other major destinations saw declines in Korean arrivals compared with the same period last year. Vietnam recorded a decrease of 12.8%, while Thailand fell by 29.9%, the Philippines by 28.3%, the U.S. by 23.1%, Hong Kong (China) by 20.1% and Taiwan (China) by 13.2%.
Travelers in their 30s accounted for the largest share of outbound tourists at 21.8%, followed by those in their 40s at 18.7%.
Average travel spending rose to 1,007 USD per person in May from 982 USD in April, bringing total overseas travel expenditure to about 2.36 billion USD.
Source: VNA