Although rising fuel prices affect tourism in various countries, South Korea is experiencing a rise in international arrivals. The number of foreign tourists arriving in South Korea in the first seven months of the year was significantly higher than in the previous year, with neighboring countries becoming an important contributor of tourism growth.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea, the country received 12.8 million international tourists from January to July. This marked a rise of 21.3% compared to last year’s figure of 10.56 million visitors for the same period.
Japan was the largest foreign tourist source for South Korea. By July, around 28% of people traveling abroad from Japan had visited South Korea, which is the largest figure ever recorded. The level was higher than last year’s data by 3.5 percentage points.
This year, tourists from Japan visiting South Korea reached around 2.28 million people, which accounts for 18.8% growth compared to last year’s results.
One of the reasons for the rise is the manner in which airlines are reacting to increased fuel prices. Instead of keeping too much supply on costly long-distance routes, they have directed a lot of the capacity to comparatively short-distance routes abroad. As a result, the number of flights available from Japan to South Korea has risen.
Seat supply available for trips between Korea and Japan reached about 349 000 seats per week, which is an increase of 2.4% compared with the end of 2025. With the flights becoming more available, South Korea authorities and the National Korean Organisation for Tourism have taken measures to use the possibilities provided by this capacity and suggest local airports to Japanese tourists as alternative airports.
The approach seems to be yielding decent results since the number of visits to many airports in Korea such as Gimhae Airport, Jeju Airport, and Cheongju Airport has appreciated from 52% to 93%. Hence, visitors start enjoying not only Seoul but broader Korea.
The consumer shifts in Japan are promoting South Korea’s tourism. The depreciation of the yen had an impact on the travelers’ choices and the increasing appeal of Korean cosmetics and cuisine has helped to attract tourists to South Korea.
The cosmetics of Korea play a major role in the process. In the first quarter of the year, the Korean brands made up more than 33.5% of the imported cosmetics in Japan, being the leading country in the list of cosmetics suppliers. Thus, the increasing demand for the Korean cosmetics is closely related to the increase in the number of tourists visiting the country.
In order to build on this momentum, tourism officials in South Korea are preparing new promotional campaigns in Japan. One of the projects in progress is K-Beauty Week in Tokyo, which is scheduled to take place from October 26 to 30, and the operation of promotional stands in Japanese airports during the Silver Week holiday in September.
Despite the rising operating costs of international travel, South Korea has achieved good results in tourism because of the potential for short-haul travel, the significance of culture, and the implementation of appropriate marketing strategies. In the future, officials assure they will adapt their strategies according to the changes in the tourism market.
