One of the country’s rams-up of international tourism, however, also comes with a plethora of complaints from tourists. Most complaints sound like: taxi drivers are rude, stores do not provide courteous services, accommodation is overly expensive, and cancellation fees are outrageous.
According to the data of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), a total of 1,753 complaints had been filed by tourists during the period from January to July 2026. The figure already exceeded total of 1,744 complaints reported in 2025, thus letting us expect a new record of complaints filed this year.
Accommodation alone is a single source for 500 complaints, considered as being the main cause of tourists’ dissatisfaction. A majority of negative feedback relates to hotels and other hosting offers because tourists are unhappy about the cancellation of their reservations, which is made unfairly by accommodation providers.
Retail service problems created 376 complaints. It should be noted that tourists complain of unfriendly services in stores and overpriced goods. Airport and airline services also contributed 186 complaints for the period of the first seven months of the year.
Taxi services were faced with considerable criticisms due to 182 complaints. Most of the complaints included drivers unwilling to use taxi meters and aggressive driving on the driver’s side.
There has also been a rise in the number of complaints in cities today where notable events are being conducted. For instance, there was a significant increase in complaints in Busan after the BTS concert in June of 2026 as the concert attracted around 110,000 tourists. In Busan a total of 94 complaints were recorded between January and July which was more than twice the number of complaints reported in 2025 which were only 239.
Seoul accounted for maximum number of complaints with a total number of 665. The next highest city was Busan with 594 complaints followed by Incheon at 176 and Jeju at 155.
Majority of the complaints that were made were from foreign tourists accounting for nearly 84.3 % of total complaints. Chinese tourists filed maximum number of complaints with a total of 680 complaints from them while Japanese and Taiwanese tourists complained for a total number of 263 and 182 respectively.
Travelling professionals state that the increase in arrivals must be put in the context of the tremendous rise in the number of international visitors coming to South Korea. According to Yoon Ji-hwan, who is a professor in tourism at Kyung Hee University, the surge in visitor numbers as well as travel industry growth lead to an increase in complaints as well.
Nonetheless, he warns that the effects of people’s experiences may transcend the level of the single case. Out of social media age, those unhappy with the level of service may rapidly share their stories with the huge audience that may negatively affect the image of South Korea as a tourist region.
The issue arises when the country experiences never-seen-before rise in tourism. The international arrivals, in fact, surpassed 10 million before the end of the first half of 2026 for the very first time.
The quest for South Korea is to make sure that the tourism facilities and services keep up with the demand experienced right now. The increase in the number of tourists should push the country to improve accommodation policy, retail industry, transport system, and consumer protection to remain appealing.
